One More Chance
by Firey-Moonlight
Summary: After the game The Lifestream is giving Cloud and Reno a second chance, in another world at another time; but with Reno on the terrorists' side and Zack dragged in, new complications and difficulties are just the beginning. SephirothCloud and RufusReno
1. The New Somnus

**Timing: After the game and before Advent Children – Sephiroth is defeated and Rufus is supposedly killed. **

**Pairings are mainly SephirothCloud and RufusReno, meaning Yaoi, so if you are homophobic I politely ask you to leave now. **

**SUMMARY: After the game, Reno and Cloud silently grieve for the death of their lovers. Due to (at the moment) unclear circumstances the two of them fell into the Lifestream, and are taken into another world. In the new world, Sephiroth and Rufus are still alive and perfectly sane. To Reno and Cloud, this is their second chance. To Rufus and Sephiroth, Reno and Cloud are new rebels whose power demands them to be killed or recruited to ShinRa's side. **

_"For far too long you have been obeying my old man, his ideas and methods are out of date. It is time for the old to fall, and the new to rise. In the past, all we had to do was give certain people money to keep the peace. All we had to do was threaten to send in the army and the people will be too afraid to do anything." The blonde turned to look at the assembled group "This is no longer the case; there are rebels and terrorists everywhere now. I intend to fix all this" Rufus ShinRa's voice turned cold, filling up the entire room "and I plan to start now." _

_Unbeknownst to him and the rest of those in ShinRa itself, another group was approaching. They wore the clothing of a low class soldier grunt, and unknown to the naked eye each member had an explosive hidden on them. They walked down a corridor, heading for another room that also contained a ShinRa – The president himself with several of his Turks. _

_"Those rebels and terrorists are getting bolder and bolder, they may think what they're doing benefits the people, but that is wrong. Exactly how does blowing up places or starting gunfights help the people? If anything, it makes their situation worst. All they accomplish is killing numerous average, normal people just doing their job here." _

_Not far off, a few patrolling SOLDIER members nodded briefly to the approaching group. The Soldiers were about to move on, but without warning the approaching group seized them by the throats. Several twists and the Soldiers dropped to the floor silently, dead. _

_"They must realize that no longer is force the only way to solve a problem. I too, would no longer tolerate their opposition. From now on, we are to show and remind the people on a daily basis what we are capable of. With the way my old man rules, sooner or later the terrorists are going to come knocking at our door." _

_Two members of the same group arrived to the president's room and saluted the guarding SOLDIERS, who returned the gesture before stepping away. Once they were gone, the SOLDIER replacements, actually Rebels in disguise, started setting up dynamite and other explosives. Nearby, the rest of the group did the same throughout the area. It took only a few seconds before everything was set and the 'okay' signals were passed along. Their temporally leader, a man with dark hair by the name of Ben and one of the two 'guarding' the President's room, gave the same signal. The rebels disappeared, and not long after the doors they were guarding opened. President ShinRa, along with a group of men and a few Turks, walked out. Ben and his partner subtly lowered his head as they passed, listening to their footsteps and mentally counting the seconds; three….two….one. _

_Rufus was about to continue his speech when he heard a loud explosion nearby. The Turks sprang to their feet and drew out the weapons. A few surrounded him, protecting him from any attacks; while another threw the door open. Smoke drifted in quickly as several more explosions went off. Rufus' eyes narrowed, the terrorists really had crossed the line. Ignoring Tseng's warning shout, he drew out his gun and dashed out of the room. _

_The rebels were dismayed when they saw that the explosion had only taken two Turks out, one of which remained alive and even shouted "protect the president!" At this rate, their explosions would be wasted. They rushed forward, shoving the President's group closer to the fire. This only resulted in the group turning around and fighting them. A few physical attacks were exchanged before the gunshots began – two of the 'ShinRa dogs' apparently had guns and were firing at the rebels. In response, the rebels either started fighting back or tried to flee. In the chaos that followed, it only escalated higher when Rufus appeared, firing several shots to the rebels; Ben knew it was almost over. He pressed down the button on the small device he held in his hand. _

_An even bigger explosion came up, causing more smoke to rise. The fighting momentarily ceased and Ben ordered his companions to leave. Almost as soon as he said that, he felt a bullet pierce through his skin, and looking up he saw the Vice-President staring smugly at him. Ben knew it was over when he felt several more bullets pierce through his skin. At the corner of his eyes he saw a Turk helping the President escape, so the plan had failed. He wondered whether the other rebels managed to escape. The Vice-President moved forward towards him, gun still pointed. _

_Rufus was about to pull the trigger when several bullets flew towards him. The first one knocked the gun out of his, the second pierced through his hand. He let out a yell of outrage, and he cradled his bloodied hand. No one had ever seen him bleed before, no one. Rufus looked back up, and saw the terrorist he had shot at was dead. Yet his partner knelt down and half dragged, half carried the body out. Before disappearing into the smoke the terrorist raised his eyes up to the president. Rufus caught a glimpse of turquoise eyes that carried a tint of Mako in them, the face otherwise covered by a piece of cloth, before the terrorist and the body disappeared. _

_The Vice President knew it wasn't over; he turned and ran out of the corridor as fast as he could. Barely a few seconds later, another explosion happened behind him. It triggered several more, creating a small series of them, and practically chased anyone who could still run out._

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

_'I bet none of them felt anything at all.'_

At a quick glance, the middle-aged man and woman sitting on the worn couch would appear to be sleeping. No scars marked their faces, nor were there any blood splatters. No evidence at all of being tied, beaten, or tortured. There was no sign of a struggle or even a break in. A coffee table in front of them still carried two cups of tea, unfinished. The television in front of them was still on, the person talking about local news that did not concern him.

He moved back to another room, this time smaller than the first. Two little girls lay on their beds, sleeping by all appearances. Yet, they didn't stir even as a nearby man opened their drawers and peered through the contents. No mark or sign of a break in the room either; the window, half covered by stickers, was still locked. Unconsciously he reached out and touched one of the girls' forehead, it was cold; dead, and lifeless. He couldn't tell how long she had been that way. Her face, like the rest of the family, showed no signs of pain or struggle.

"Hey, leave the body as it is, you don't want your DNA over it and then face charges about being the murderer." The nearby man said. The hand was quickly withdrawn, and the owner took a few steps back. He considered checking on the son, but already knew what he would see. Perhaps the boy would also be in his bed, sleeping in another undisturbed room, except it would be a sleep he would never wake up from, and the room would have no doubt been disturbed by someone who knew how to leave no trace of it.

A father, a mother, two little girls and an even younger son; all murdered in their sleep by a murderer who left no evidence behind him. Hopefully the forensics would be able to find something, because at this rate they would have no clue where to start looking for the murderer.

Not that the higher ups would care, they'll just yell at them to go find the killer and while they're at it, figure out how the murderer managed to do this without leaving any trace. If the killer was really as great as the rumors were starting to say he/she was, they must be disposed of; or recruited to ShinRa's side, as the vice-president had said.

_'Not likely, if the victims are all related to ShinRa.' _

He needed some fresh air, or at least air as fresh as you can get around here. Turning, he moved quickly out of the room. A few men glanced at him as he stepped past, probably wondering where the joker in him was. It was common belief he was a light hearted joker and never got down. Common belief can also be unreliable.

_'Besides'_, he thought, '_Who could be happy when they know that there's a murderer on the loose who could break in and kill without leaving a trace?' _

Outside, he let out a long sigh. He didn't know much about the family, but the husband had once been a SOLDIER trainer. It was an odd selection for the rapidly growing-infamous graceful killer. Before this family, there had been that couple who were killed in a similar fashion, and the two had been ShinRa scientists. Before _that_ couple, it was another family of a rather old couple living with their son and his wife – all of them ShinRa employers and all killed in their sleep. Zack didn't miss them; they were well known self-absorbed people who wouldn't care for those 'beneath their level'. He was pretty sure the people living below the plates would be celebrating by now.

So the murdered victims were all heartless people, that still didn't make it justified that they were being killed off. Heartless or not, when you kill people without a declaration of war, it was murder. He knew it was hypocritical of him, since he too was killing off people that really sometimes were not even a threat to ShinRa. He winced; they were getting a taste of their own medicine, weren't they? Normally it was the Turks who dealt with such matters, but Sephiroth was starting to become interested, so ShinRa simply allowed them access. Of course, as Sephiroth's self-proclaimed best friend, Zack had to tag along.

_'A lot of good it really did'_, Zack thought. '_Nor have we gotten the reports yet, the murders happen so quickly that the forensics still haven't had time to thoroughly examine each body and their crime scene.'_

As if on cue, a man appeared and approached him. The clothing identified him as one of the forensics, and Zack expected the man to walk pass him. However, the man stopped in front of him and spoke "Mr. Knightblade?"

Zack nodded, and the man continued "I am Jonathon Frostpine, forensics, you might want to look at this." The man handed him a folder, and Zack skimmed through the contents quickly. A majority of the words flew past him, but he got the general idea.

"Electric shocks?"

"It explains the lack of obvious bruising, all of them to some degree or another came in contact with an electric device. Some of the victims already had problems that would have contributed to their death – cardiovascular conditions or some type of drug, most likely medicine. As for the scene itself, we still haven't found anything that could tell us how the murderer got in, but because of this we can consider the possibility that the murderer was let in or had a key to the house. Meaning it could be somebody the victims knew, or they were good enough to steal the key, run a copy, return it before it could be reported missing, and _then_ break in."

"Probably the latter, with regards to the ShinRa break-in" a terrorist group recently had tried making fake IDs and other keycards to get into the ShinRa building. Though they did not succeed in killing the President, the damages done were high. At least some of the terrorists were killed, he was pretty sure that Cornson played a role in shooting several of them….

"Cornson" He suddenly said, Jonathon blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"Cornson" Zack repeated, he jerked a thumb back towards the house. Jonathon nodded, the dead family inside were the Cornsons. Zack then pointed to the doorknob "You said yourself that that they might have broken in by getting a copy of the key first. The last time this happened was during that ShinRa break-in, when you think about it, the incident isn't even a week ago. Cornson and Danfork were the only two who managed to injure the terrorists." Realization was starting to draw on Jonathon's face "The victims so far were all active ShinRa members, the Cornson family were not. Though we have no real proof yet, it appears as if our killer works closely with the terrorist group, probably a new member."

"So Somnus **(1)** is actually another terrorist?"

"Just a guess at the moment, we'll have to look further into it"

"Hold on a minute, if Cornson was killed because of some revenge plot, shouldn't Danfork…"

"Oh shoot!" Zack came very close to swearing, but Zack being Zack decided against it. He turned around, about to start dashing to his car while probably calling for someone to check on the Danfork family, but his cell phone beat him to it. He picked up hastily "Hello?" He listened for only a few seconds before his shoulders slumped. He hung up and turned to Jonathon, giving the man a bitter smile.

"Too late, the Danfork family are also dead; Somnus got there quicker then we could."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Loud cheers and applause filled the room the moment he walked in. The boy, actually a young man with too much experience, couldn't help feeling a tiny part of him scream in anger and disgust. Yet the rest of him accepted the applause easily, pleased at his success and the fame it brought him. To him, it was simply another job well done. He better get a good paycheck on this.

"You did it!" A man shouted. "You actually did it! You've avenged our comrades!"

"ShinRa isn't so mighty now!" A girl shouted "You've shown them what we're capable of!"

"You should have heard the rumors spreading nowadays! The people are crazy about you! It's a pity we have to keep your identity secret from the public still, here you are as Somnus, but to the outside you're still our sex symbol! Rwrrroow, go you sexy beast! Ow, ow, ow, that hurts!" Laughter erupted around the room as the speaker found himself caught in a headlock.

"It's true though!" Another person shouted "you should have heard them! They were guessing what you were like, and descriptions went from you being some steroid taking muscular man to a really old guy with powerful magic. Since your gender is still undefined to the media, some people are hoping for some chick dressed in tight black leather. I swear, none of the rumors come close to who you really are!"

"Want to go out for a drink?" One of the more senior members shouted over the noise "My treat!"

"It's not like we'll look suspicious anyways! Not just us who would celebrate! Join the masses!"

The chatter died down as Somnus raised his hand, no doubt about to speak. The silence was almost immediate, the people knew to listen.

"I'll love to celebrate, yo" he smirked "however, I have something to do first, so I would be joining all of you later"

"Cheking oz da cute one an I cant beath!"

"Yo, sorry" Reno let go of the man and gave him a pat on the back, looking nowhere sorry. He turned his attention back to the crowd "Yes, I am going to drop by my friend's place first. I have to see how he is doing, after all."

"Loyal, my boy, loyal" one of the older men said with a smile "Ever since your arrival, we all thought it was for the money, but you've proven us wrong."

"Hum-hum" Reno slipped gracefully to another man. The man had dark hair with a tint of green and sharp, blue eyes. Reno didn't stop to gaze at the wheelchair the man sat on. He simply went behind the seated man and draped his arms around the man's neck "Yo, Orion"

The man let out a laugh, and reached inside his jacket. He pulled out an envelope and Reno took it gracefully, looking through the contents with his arms still around the man's neck. Straight cash, and in the exact amount, that was the condition Reno set for his jobs. Orion, the leader of the group and the one who gave him the money, always followed it willingly. After counting the cash and seeing that it was, once again, the right amount Reno smiled and pulled back.

"Thanks, yo"

"And Reno…" The redhead, nicknamed as Somnus, stopped his departure from the room and turned around. Orion stared at him and continued "If you wish, you could just tell us and we'll have your friend here in no…"

"No thanks, yo, I know him well enough; he wouldn't like waking up anywhere else but among those flowers." Reno gave one of his waves to the man as he walked away "Ta-ta, boss. I'll see you later at the bar."

"Seventh Heaven then?" One of the men shouted.

"Of course!" Reno called back, and he heard the laughter start again, accompanied by jokes being passed along that he must be watching that bartender again. Reno would stay back, thank you very much, Tifa knew how to throw a punch in one world, and most likely she would in this one too. Chuckling, he stepped out the building and into the streets, where he began walking towards his destination. His thoughts took a turn to his dilemma, to what had happened for these past few days. Even now he found it hard to believe, but reality was always there, reminding him he wasn't playing the role of a ShinRa Turk anymore. His former training still lingered on him, because it took only a few seconds for him to know he was being followed.

What a nuisance.

Reno quickened his footsteps, tucking the envelope into his jacket more carefully. Judging by what he was hearing, there seemed to be two of them. If this was more elite, they would actually have another watching him somewhere far off, but Reno wasn't going to underestimate his pursuers. He walked even faster, and heard his pursuers do the same. Those idiots, they could have at least tried to minimize the volume of their footsteps. Someone like Reno knew when he was being followed, especially when his pursuer no doubt had no training on the art of stalking. The redhead turned a corner and stopped, damn, it was a dead end. Reno wasn't worried the slightest, he waited till the men came in, and spoke without turning around.

"Yo, are you punks looking for trouble?" He asked without turning around. "Coming back down from the plates to visit a friend, and you want to deny me of it?" He heard the men spring into action, and even before they came close to him Reno had his knives out and ready. Just as one of them came close to him, Reno whipped around and brought a knife down.

The fight lasted only for a few seconds. There _had_ actually been three men, one who was supposed to stay behind and watch. In those few seconds, two of them were lying with a slit throat and the third was cowering against the wall as Reno approached him with a bloody knife. The blade pressed against the stranger's neck and Reno spoke "So, who sent you?" The boy was shaking terribly; Reno frowned and pressed the blade deeper.

"No one!" He blurted out "no one! We were just looking for food, sir!"

"….a thief?" Reno stared at the boy for a few seconds and saw the panic and fear, too much for somebody who had even the slightest training in some rebel group. He studied the boy closely and finally pulled the knife back, but he remained standing in his spot. "Would there be more of you that I have to deal with?"

"Damn right you do!" A voice shouted from behind, and without warning something struck him. Reno hissed and turned to see a man, much bigger then him, struck again with a baseball bat. The knife in Reno's left hand was dropped when that bat hit him there, and Reno jumped out of the way to avoid the next blow on his right. The man let out a growl as he raised the bat again and took several swings, all of which missed their target. But suddenly the swings ceased and he froze, then he slumped forward to the redhead, who quickly scrambled out of the way. Reno stood up, a metallic rod now in his left hand. A weapon he tried limiting the use of; his Electro-Mag.

Ignoring the thief, Reno kicked the man over and checked his pulse: alive. In his mind, he calculated the pros and cons of sparing the man's life, but already he could see the cons outweighed the pros; especially since the last thing he needed was the rumors of his obviously-high-technology-maybe-ShinRa weapon to spread, it would blow his cover. Reno picked up the discarded knife.

He left the scene with four bodies behind him.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

The air had that slight difference of freshness around here. Despite all the pollution they were surrounded by, there was something soothing here. The few times he came in here, he was usually hostile, but no longer. Reno pushed the door opened and walked into the room, careful that his feet did not step on the flowers. The sweet smelling air wasn't overpowering, but pleasant. Arriving to the centre of the room, he spoke "how is he?"

A kneeling figure with long brown hair turned to look at him. Green eyes the color of spring regarded him with a soft smile. Ribbons of pink wound around her hair, fitting with her long pink dress. The young woman answered "he should be close to recovering by now; there should be nothing wrong with him, any moment we can expect him to wake."

Reno settled on one of the empty benches at the side. At this distance he could see the figure almost hidden by the flowers. The figure lay on his back on the soft earth, surrounded by flowers and their sweet scent. The hands lay clasped over his stomach, and the eyes remained closed. Spiky blond hair spread around his head like some sort of halo, except it was jagged and sharp. At least he no longer looked as pale as before, Reno couldn't help feeling a wave of relief. By appearances, at least the motionless form now looked better then before. Allowing something close to a smile grace his face, he reached inside his jacket and pulled out the envelope he had gotten earlier. Taking out some of the cash, he walked over to the Ancient and handed it to her "here, thanks for watching him for me."

"Oh no, if this is what the planet wants, I can't make you pay for it."

"It'll make me feel better, besides, where can you go without some cash? Take it. In the meantime, let me speak to the ancients." He stared hard at her, and he noticed the subtle change. The green eyes lost their sparkle and instead were replaced by an ageless wisdom and power. When the Ancient spoke again, it was in a different, older voice.

"Calling us, so soon already?"

"Yo, why is Cloud still like this? As for your comment about soon, it's almost two weeks already."

"A year for you humans is but mere days to us" The voice answered through Aerith. "Those under are but mere hours, as for your companion" A delicate hand lightly brushed over Cloud's forehead "He is alive, and he will recover. When he does, he will wake and join this world."

"That is, if he could survive the shock of actually coming here" Reno pointed out. "It was an accident, yo, he and I fell into the Lifestream, and you think it's funny to throw us into another world? The timing is going to kill him, at this time our crazy general is not only alive but a sane man. To wake up and know he has to kill his former lover again, this time not because the man's crazy but because he has to die before he becomes crazy, might just be the thing to break him. I nearly died of shock when I saw the people worshipping Sephiroth and the man is still alive."

"As is the one person you ever thought you loved. Rufus ShinRa is alive too, is this not another chance for you as well? Don't look at us like that, you miss him as well. Do not think your true feelings are hidden, the Lifestream hears your grief as well as it hears your friend's" A gesture made to the sleeping – Reno believed him sleeping and not dead or something as serious – form beside her. "This is another chance for you, for him, for the fire that died in both of you to ignite once more."

"Already I've damned him, yo" Reno answered. "Because I needed money to keep us alive, I took up jobs from those terrorists, and while none of those in ShinRa know my face, sooner or later they'll catch on. Somnus is infamous enough, once they find out who I am, my face would be known everywhere and all of ShinRa forces, SOLDIER and Turk alike, would start hunting for me. When that happens, Cloud would probably interfere and try to help, soon he'll become involved. Considering his skills, he'll be just as infamous as I would soon become."

"A reversed position for you now, is it not?"

"What do you mean?"

"Prehaps it is time, for you to learn about the other side and how they operate, along with what truely motivates them. You once thought that the terrorists were to blame in getting your first lover so distracted from you, and to some degree it was the same with Rufus. Now, you would be at the receiving end of their obession, and no longer can you blame them for causing trouble because you are now part of it."

**(1) Somnus is actually the Roman Personification of Sleep. In mythology his twin brother is Mors, Personification of Death. One can see the connection here, with the murderer giving them death while they sleep. **

**To readers of my Kingdom Hearts fic _This Vampire's Addiction. _I have a bit of Writer's Block so I just decided to try writing something else. Have no fear, I will continue that story soon! The Orion here is not related in any way to the Orion in _Addiction_, these two stories are completely different, I simply like using the name. **

**To new readers, thanks for reading this far! So what do you think? Was it exciting or boring? Any suggestions or questions? Leave your comments in your review! Sephiroth and Cloud will join us pretty soon, but that depends on the number of reviews I get **


	2. Turk and Terrorist

**There will be hints of Reno and Cloud in other pairings (for example TsengReno in this chapter), but the main pairing is still RufusReno and SephirothCloud**

He knew what fire he was playing with, but in the grand scheme of things it mattered little.

After all, he's been dancing with danger as soon as he joined ShinRa years ago. He knew the fragility of human life, and the precious few seconds that can determine life or death. He knew the rewards one can gain from doing certain deeds, and the punishments that could follow should he fail. He knew who to stay with and who to avoid, just to keep himself from getting into deeper trouble then he already was in.

More often then not, though, he chose not to follow his logical mind. It was more fun to get in trouble, or to fight just for the heck of it and not because someone told you to. He may be careless, but he really wanted some thrill and fun.

Cloud once called him self-destructive. Reno said it was testing his limits. Cloud pointed out how he could die with his fun. Reno told him that it was equivalent to Cloud's self-sacrificing tendencies. Cloud accused Reno of being a fool. Reno countered that Cloud was one as well. Cloud claimed he'll never trust Reno with his life, and the redhead merely smirked because wasn't Cloud already doing so by lying unarmed and alone in Reno's bed?

They were both fools, and the way they controlled their feelings only confirmed it. You're not supposed to fall for people who could easily kill you, and seem to like doing so. You're definitely not supposed to fall for your superiors, especially people as insane as Rufus or Sephiroth. At least Cloud knew what must be done, and managed to give Sephiroth the killing blow. If it was him, Reno didn't he think he would be able to do it. Some part of would have believed his lover could be redeemed.

Lover, what a sick joke. His 'lovers' always ended up too focused on their work. Tseng and Rufus were good examples, one obsessed with catching terrorists, the other obsessed for power and the plotting of his own father's death, before also switching to terrorists. To make the whole thing more ironic, after their deaths, it was Reno who had Cloud, a leader of a terrorist group. The two of them didn't exactly have a relationship, but it was a sort of comfort they didn't mind having.

The planet was right, this time as part of the terrorists; Reno will be receiving that attention. From what he's seen of this world, the standards of ShinRa's soldiers were not as high as it was in their world, Reno and Cloud would no doubt catch the attention of ShinRa if their skills were revealed. Reno's alias, Somnus, was already the craze. ShinRa didn't have as much control of the people here, if the open, gradual increase of Somnus supporters were anything to go by.

He felt a course of excitement again. Since this was an alternative world of sorts, he was allowed to literally do _anything_ and know to some degree what he will be dealing with. He was given more opportunities to go fool with some important figure's mind, or befriend certain people so he could cause them personal angst when they figure out who he was.

So, one evening as he spent his time in the Seventh Heaven Bar and saw a certain spiky dark-haired soldier come in, he had gone and befriended him. Zack was asking for it, with his friendly demeanor and that wish of 'looking for new friends'. Reno had simply gone and started talking to him, casual conversations, nothing incriminating to himself, but he knew he had gotten Zack to like him. Nowadays the dark haired man seeks him out whenever he came to Seventh Heaven. Reno knew it was because his attitude was a sort of relief after all the stuff ShinRa threw at Zack.

In the real world, Zack used to be someone he liked, so Reno knew that he wouldn't hurt Zack that maliciously.

Tseng…on the other hand…

Maybe it was because of the opportunity given to him, maybe it was because he just had to meet Tseng this way, but when Reno finally came face to face with Tseng he couldn't stop his sadistic glee. It had been a fight between the Turks and the terrorists again, and naturally, the two of them were on opposite sides. There were casualties on both sides, but Reno came out unharmed. He had a pretty significant role in turning the tables to the terrorists' favour, and the Turks who haven't died had been forced to flee.

Reno stayed only to make sure his fellow terrorists were sent away to be treated. Then he went out to see if he could find his former _lover_.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Aside from Somnus' latest victims, the day had started off like any other day. Unfortunately for him, during one of his rounds, Tseng had a hunch. A hunch that those people leaving the Seventh Heaven Bar in high spirits were terrorists. Since Tseng wasn't the type to just shoot anyone he suspected, he had decided to follow the group. The group had separated into even more groups, so Tseng picked the one with the most people. Not long after, he heard them discussing things that could only be a threat to ShinRa. Tseng's partner, upon hearing those words, had ignored Tseng's warning and attacked.

Rule 21 in the Turk Handbook, never attack an unknown person without knowing their abilities first.

Those people _were_ terrorists, and upon seeing the Turks had immediately drew guns. In the resulting gunfight, backup arrived from both sides and escalated the casualties. There were property damages, casualties, and deaths on both sides; but the terrorists overwhelmed the Turks in their numbers. It wasn't long before the Turks were forced to retreat.

Now, Tseng found himself resting in another old and abandoned building. A trail of dark blood, which had followed him from the scene, would have led anyone to him. Tseng pressed his hand over the wound, trying to stop the bleeding at his side. Luckily or luckily, it had begun raining. At least the building could provide him some shelter, however flimsy. The rain also had the role of washing away his blood trail. He briefly wondered whether the other Turks made it, and whether some of the healthier terrorists were looking for them to finish the job.

Tseng didn't know how long he rested there, drifting between dreams and reality, when he heard the unmistakable taps of footsteps. It brought some of his senses back to him, and he came aware of how cold he was. The shelter had not prevented the cold from sweeping into his skin, turning them to ice temperatures. If not for his body's endurance, which was required for a Turk, he would have probably died by now.

A figure approached him, footsteps growing louder, but vision appeared to be a sense Tseng was still lacking. He could make out the slender from, and the spiky red hair. When the figure knelt down in front of him, he saw pale skin, glowing eyes, and the almost-cruel smirk on the person's youthful face.

"If I was any of my friends, you would be dead, Turk."

The way the words were spoken sent warning bells ringing in Tseng's head. He knew the person was not here to help him, the person had just admitted that they were friends of terrorists. When he smelled the blood on the other person, he wanted to recoil, to draw away, but he didn't. His body was too weak, and he himself was too proud. Yet he couldn't stop the flinch when he felt cool fingers light touch his cheek, before trailing down his throat.

The smirk never left the younger man's face. His fingers ran over Tseng's neck almost lovingly, before moving to remove Tseng's tie. One button was undone, and the hand pushed the shirt aside to expose the neck. The same fingers then settled around Tseng's neck in a frighteningly familiar position, before it tightened. Tseng choked as he felt his air supply blocked. He coughed, gasping for air, and heard the light laughter of his tormentor before the fingers relaxed. Tseng breathed deeply, trying to regain control of himself, and as he did so a trickle of blood dripped from his lips. Tseng knew the choking he did probably upset his injury in some way, and he hated the coppery taste in his mouth.

The younger male held Tseng's face in his hands, before leaning forward and licking the blood off. Tseng wasn't prepared for the intimacy of their contact, and couldn't suppress the shudder. He felt the redhead's lips curl upwards into a wider smirk, before one of those hands lowered to caress Tseng's wound. The Turk finally reacted, closing his hand over the stranger's and stopping further movement.

"…Stop it…"

Foreign lips moved to his ear and nipped it almost gently. The voice spoke again, light and carefree, as if Tseng wasn't injured at all "Where's the fun in that?" They both knew Tseng probably won't last, he was injured, dazed, and could pass out any moment. As it was, the stranger continued "It's a rare opportunity, for the insignificant people such as me to have a Turk like this…completely at our mercy. What's wrong? Perhaps my actions alarm you, because you haven't had anyone touch you so intimately before? Well, maybe the presidents and a select few others have, but they were for lust only, weren't they? Plus, you could never go against them."

Tseng's eyes instantly shot open in shock, but even then he could not see the stranger clearly as his spherical vision was still weak. The sharp release of a breath by his ear told Tseng the stranger was probably amused at his reaction, because they both knew it was true. As Tseng's body remained motionless, the redhead draped his arms around Tseng's shoulders, pulling the two of them closer into an embrace. Unlike Tseng, the stranger was warm, and the Turk was unable to resist it when his body was so cold. The redhead then titled his head up and kissed the Turk on his lips.

A rush of emotions and sensations swept over Tseng like a wave; shock, disbelief…_terror_. This was wrong on so many levels, Turk and terrorist, they were in opposite sides. This was a serious breach, and Tseng knew if this was ever discovered, he could very well lose his job and maybe even his life, and ShinRa probably won't listen to his explanations. But it was nothing compared to the terror he felt when he realized that he _wanted_ this. Those 'select few' he had slept with had never embraced or kissed him, at least not without some sort of wild lust.

It still wasn't right though, Tseng could taste danger in those lips. There was a mixture of wilderness, and an uncontrollable passion and spirit, but there was a strong sense of danger as well. It wouldn't be a kiss one would describe as warm – though it physically was – or loving – since there was their identities to be worried about – but Tseng knew this would be burned into his memory. He knew he wouldn't be able to forget this, even if he did not know who the stranger kissing him was. Tseng didn't know whether that was for the better or worst, at the moment all he knew was that his flesh wanted this, but his endurance was weak. If this continued, he would literally die in this terrorist's arms. Already his vision was blurring…

Reno felt the Turk fall limp at last. Satisfied for the moment, the redhead reached into Tseng's jacket and pulled out a cell phone. Knowing Tseng, the phone numbers saved here were all business-related. Randomly selecting a number Reno vaguely remembered as a fellow Turk in his old world, he sent a text message calling for help. The last thing Reno wanted was his voice to be heard and then recognized at some distant time. With that done, he wiped the cell phone clean of his fingerprints, before standing up and leaving the Turk alone. Another visit to his fellow terrorists, or to the currently comatose-Cloud, was in order. What with him helping the terrorists in a gunfight against the Turks, maybe he could squeeze more money out of Orion.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"From the eyes themselves, it's next to impossible to look the person up" the man was saying. Rufus ignored him, staring at the sheet in his hands.

While not exactly artistic, the vice president had a photographic memory and given time, the ability to reproduce that image with his hands. The glowing – was it just the light, or was it mako? – Turquoise eyes of the terrorist who had actually shot him stared back up at him through the sketch Rufus had drawn. Rufus knew he would never forget those eyes, not until he could find the person they belonged to.

No one had seen him bleed before, especially not potential enemy. The terrorist who had dared shoot him will pay.

"I don't care what you say," Rufus hissed as he threw several sheets of unimportant paper into the man's face. The man flinched at Rufus' threatening gaze "find every single person under our records whose eyes matched these. If you wish, consider it part of your job, as this person is no doubt working for terrorist groups. I don't care how many results we get, just have the results by my desk as soon as possible."

"Yes sir" The man left in a hurry, no doubt wanting to get away from Reno as soon as possible. Rufus scowled and pushed his hair out of his eyes. He dearly wanted to rant, but his secretary was currently out of his reach and the Turks were out tending to the wounded.

A shootout, and from what he's seen a pretty serious one; the terrorists really were getting bold. And of course his _dear_ father won't respond to the incident properly. He'll yell at the Turks, and whoever else was in his reach, to work harder and find the ones responsible. Then he'll tell the doctors to patch up those injured, but ignore the property damage since it does not affect him directly. The citizens of Midgar will then be dissatisfied with the lack of repairs and possibly lean more to the terrorists' side.

Honestly, his father had no idea how to rule properly.

In the best scenario, the terrorists will kill his father, allowing Rufus to succeed and kill off all the terrorists under the cover of them being responsible for his father's death. Throw in some propaganda and accuse the terrorists of every wrong in the city, and the public could be swayed to either support him or stay silent. Pick some of the more popular terrorists and try to convince them to work in ShinRa, and it will give Rufus the image of someone who is willing to listen to the public.

He looked back down at the eyes he had drawn, the terrorist who owned those eyes knew what he was doing. The question was why the terrorist didn't kill him. The terrorist was no doubt a sharpshooter, if the accuracy of the bullets which had been fired at his hands was anything to go by. It would have been easy for the terrorist to kill him, but he didn't. Yet the eyes held no pity for the blond, nor did it seem to be an attempt to take as little lives as possible.

No, the terrorist simply decided not to bother killing him, because the terrorist was trying to drag the body of his other terrorist friend away. The Vice President frowned, that terrorist showed more compassion to a corpse then to the state of events at that time. If he had seen it correctly and the terrorist really had Mako eyes, Rufus wondered whether it was some ex-SOLDIER who had left ShinRa because of some conscience or petty grudge. For all he knew, it could be a Turk as well, but if it had been the case Rufus would have known. The Turks were close to him, Rufus would know if one of them left.

He continued staring at the eyes.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Sephiroth! There you are! Have a seat!"

"This is my office, and get off my seat Knightblade."

"It's Zack! Anyways, did I ever tell you how much I love you?"

"Whatever it is, the answer is either a no or an I-won't-forgive-you-for-whatever-mess-you've-made."

"Well, you'll calmly accept any bad news, right? No killing the messenger? I'm just the messenger!"

"Depending on how fast you run right after you've delivered it"

"I'm sure you won't mind doing extra work, it'll be a breeze for you!"

"The office window is high enough, I will jump."

The smile finally fell off Zack's face "You can't do that! You're…Sephiroth! Suicide goes against…whatever rule or number in the SOLDIER Handbook!"

"Watch me"

"Sephiroth please, this is serious!"

"You have one minute"

"The murder of two families closely linked to ShinRa, then a shoot out between some terrorists and Turks, which resulted in almost half of them temporally out of action, really drove the point in that the terrorists are willing to go through any means to accomplish their goals, and we might not be able to respond properly. So aside from throwing more cadets against terrorists and increasing the shifts of ShinRa workers, it's decided that you have to add in your efforts. You'll be responsible for protecting the presidents and directing operations to catch the terrorists while at the same time you have to find more recruits and reassure the public that ShinRa will prevail and since you're getting that scary look on your face I'll leave now good luck!" In speeds capable only of Mako-enchanted soldiers, Zack was out the door and gone from Sephiroth's sight.

The general kept relatively calm, and moved to sit down in his now vacant chair. He stared at the paperwork, originally neatly stacked, but now rather messy due to Zack's interference. The dark-haired man was probably bored while waiting for him again. As he began sifting through the paperwork again, Sephiroth considered his new responsibilities. He had gotten involved in those activities before, but never had been actually told to do them at the same time simply due to some terrorists and the presidents' paranoia. Wasn't protecting them solely the responsibility of the Turks? Simply because half of them were out action didn't mean the other half couldn't do their work right?

And reassuring the public….was he to play poster boy again?

What was he, some counter for the infamous Somnus?

His interest in Somnus was already increasing. From the latest report, it seemed as if Somnus' choice of weapon had something to do with electricity. It was almost a pity that nobody knows what Somnus looked like, Sephiroth wouldn't mind a duel between them, he really wouldn't. At times, he wanted a capable opponent on the terrorists' side, just so his dealings with them won't get so monotone (find them, kill them).

He looked out of his office; he could see the lights flickering below. Many people living different lives, and one of them will be – has to be – Somnus himself. What would someone Somnus be doing? Did he spend his time alone, like Sephiroth did? Or will Somnus have a family whom he generally cared for, maybe friends he would die for? Maybe a select few of the lives down there will know exactly who Somnus was, and were celebrating another day where Somnus has evaded ShinRa capture. On the other hand, maybe Somnus was right now more stressed and worried then Sephiroth was, maybe he knew the people who got into the shootout and was tending their wounds.

Sephiroth didn't know it, but he was correct.

Down at the slums, Reno helped clean the wounds of an injured man before moving to where Orion was. The redhead leaned against the wall and spoke "we've got a few dead, and many injured, but overall I'll say the group can recover soon enough. Not meaning to brag, but if I haven't arrived, there would have been more casualties, yo."

"I heard" Orion said "the men have already told me of how you've turned the tide to our favour, forcing the Turks to flee. You stayed behind to make sure they could be sent away before chasing after the Turks, by the way, did you find any?"

"No, the rain washed off all traces" Reno lied easily. Orion sighed.

"ShinRa will be angry; they will no doubt take more aggressive moves against the civilians in hopes of trying to catch the 'ones responsible'. Once they try that, the civilians will start looking at us as the more favorable option." Orion looked at Reno "you know, for a higher amount of money…"

"I am not suicidal, Orion" Reno interrupted. "No matter how much money you offer me, or how many compliments I receive about my skills, there is _no way in hell_ that I'm going to go finish off the Turks like I did with those other ShinRa weaklings."

"You've finished off Soldiers and Soldier trainers before"

"But even I'm not crazy enough to attack those with the magic 'First Class' label, Orion. While I do not care so much about the wrath of those with ShinRa blood, I draw the line against Sephiroth."

"You're lying"

"Excuse me?"

"Your eyes betray you, that shadow in your eyes, Sephiroth isn't just a threat to you, it's something deeper." Orion moved his wheelchair forward, bringing himself closer to the supposed mercenary "you fear him, true, but you seem to have more against him then simply because of the man's legendary skills. If anything, it seems to be a bit more personal" Orion smiled "perhaps…you once had your own personal encounter with the general, and he ruined your life? Maybe…"

"Orion" Reno's voice had changed. There was something darker in that tone, and the warning was clear "do _not_, I tell you, do not prod into my past. I do not welcome such…_concern_ of yours, from you or anyone else. I do not look at my past with relish, and the last thing I need is being reminded of it." The redhead slammed his hands onto the wheelchair's armrests before leaning forward. Despite Orion's obvious stockier built and extra height, he was sitting down, giving the mercenary an advantage. Reno leaned forward and stared down at Orion, almost coldly.

"Whatever has happened in the past, I guarantee you, will not affect my performance. Sephiroth will not recognize me either, so if worst comes to worst and the First Class Soldiers _do_ find us, we will fight without any personal grudge. That is the only circumstance I see that would make me try to kill him or any First Class Soldier. There will be nothing personal, no grudge or deep desire to kill each other. Unless, of course, those ShinRa dogs find out I am Somnus, then I will have a hell lot more ShinRa soldiers screaming for my blood. Until then, I do not have a death wish and therefore, I am not inclined to seek a confrontation with the more famous fighters."

It occurred to Reno that this conversation was getting too personal already. He couldn't decipher the meaning in the look Orion now gave him. There was no fear at his words, but nor was there any understanding in those sharp eyes. Orion would not understand him or his reasons. The man was too deeply entrenched in his own agenda and goals. Pulling back, Reno straightened and looked at the people around them, being treated or helping treat the more seriously injured. The mood there was light, but Reno was no longer inclined to spend any more time with Orion, much less ask for some more cash.

Maybe he should apologize for his words. He didn't want to, but right now Orion was his paycheck, so he'll have to throw his pride aside.

"My apologies, Orion, I got carried away. If you don't mind, I'm going to drop by my friend's to see how they're doing."

He didn't sound too sincere, nor did he wait for an answer. Reno simply turned and exited the building, but he could feel eyes on his back. Reno rubbed his forehead, wondering whether it will be more difficult working with Orion after that conversation. Should he look for another employer soon?

Well, better not get carried away this time, Reno thought as he arrived to the church. Aerith was absent at the moment, probably had gone out to sell her flowers. The redhead spotted familiar spikes of blond hair, and moved forward, carefully placing his feet to make sure he didn't step on the flowers. He plopped down beside Cloud's form and stared at the pale face, healthier, but still unmoving. Reno shifted, looked around to confirm that nobody was listening, and spoke "why won't you wake up…?"

The form remained motionless, Reno shifted again.

"Wake up, yo, I don't know how long I'll last before I do something crazy, I need someone to talk to about recent events…"

Silence.

"….scratch that, I already did something risky. Today I finally met Tseng…."

**I bet all of you thought this fic was dead. I seriously considered leaving it at the side, since it didn't seem so successful. Then I received the 7 reviews, a number I usually set to get myself to continue, and I thought 'why not?' I do need to take a break from **_**This Vampire's Addiction**_** at times, the plotting required there drives me crazy**


	3. Reeve's Encounter

**I WENT THROUGH THE VALEDICTORY CEREMONY!!! I HAVE NOW GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL!!!! **

Rufus had expected it to more difficult then this; he had really expected to have to go throw pounds of paperwork just to see if he could find the terrorist with the Mako eyes.

And now, he was given a pretty straight forward clue by Tseng.

The Vice President stared at the Turk, who was currently lying on a hospital bed. He would recover quickly, thanks to the Turk's own Mako dose. Now, Tseng sat almost comfortably on the bed, looking at the Vice President in a respectful though slightly ashamed manner. Beside him, two Turks stood at the side, one of a relatively young age, possibly a new recruit, and the other a tanned and bald man named Rude, one of the more influential Turks.

Tseng had been discussing about the gunfight with them when Rufus passed by, intent on seeing his Turks personally himself. Unlike his father, Rufus maintained close ties with the Turks, only so that they would prefer him over his father. Half the time he could care less about their welfare, but a good dictator needed not only a strong army for war but faithful body guards who would willingly sacrifice their life for him. So almost every time the Turks got injured, Rufus would see them, even if only for a bit. Good thing he had, for as he passed by their room Tseng mentioned a terrorist with possible Mako eyes.

Rufus had quickly entered the room and demanded information. It might have not been the one he was searching for, but it was a lead.

Tseng gave Rufus a detailed report of how the gunfight started and escalated until the terrorists made it obvious they had the advantage. He described how the terrorists' favour had come through a redhead who wielded knives and guns like an expert. Though there was a good distance between them, and his face wasn't clear, Tseng was sure the terrorist's eyes were glowing, as if with Mako. Rufus suspected Tseng was hiding something from him then, but he said nothing. Tseng was one of his most faithful Turks, if it was serious; he'll tell Rufus later when there weren't other ears listening to the conversation.

"Judging by his height and built, I believe he's relatively young" Tseng continued "unfortunately, I cannot be sure of that. My apologies, sir"

"No matter" Rufus waved it aside, his eyes still sharp and determine "Now, you say he's either from AVANLANCHE or Eridanus **(1)**?"

"Yes sir, I explicitly heard the first group say they were of AVANLANCHE, and later during the gunfight I saw a few wanted terrorists of Eridanus."

Rufus' lips curled. "AVANLANCHE and Eridanus have both claimed responsibility to the ShinRa attack several days ago, haven't they?"

"Yes sir"

_So he must be in one of those two terrorist groups…_ "Thank you, Tseng, I wish you a quick recovery"

"Thank you, sir" Rufus turned and walked out of the room. He really hadn't thought he would get some progress so easily. The terrorist was in one of those two groups, that information successfully narrowed down the population of Midgar. It still wasn't good enough though, while certain members of those groups were known publicly, there were many who were still undiscovered and hiding in the shadows. Who knows how many civilians were actually aiding the terrorists? For all he knew, his terrorist had simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and decided to just join the fun. Rufus could relate to that.

When that thought came to him, he paused. This was obsession; he was indirectly stalking a terrorist whom he didn't even know the name and face of. He was also already comparing himself with him, this couldn't be healthy.

Still, it has been a while since he had felt such interest in a terrorist. Maybe it'll make life even more interesting for him then paperwork or dealing with snobby ShinRa executives. He wasn't stupid enough to go into the front lines just for a chance to see the terrorist, if he wanted to see them, he would have to try something else.

Tseng said the AVALANCHE group came out of the Seventh Heaven Bar, he could always start there.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"You don't look that happy today, work was hard?"

Zack looked to his side and saw Reno sitting there, all good and charming. The SOLDIER smiled in relief, knowing he could, somewhat, rant about his hard day at work. He made no secret of his rather strange relationship with the greatest general history had ever seen, so by now Reno had heard enough about Sephiroth's cold attitude to not blink at Zack's comments. If Zack had been a more paranoid type of person, he would be suspicious of Reno's calm acceptance of everything, but Zack wasn't, so the fact slipped past him.

"…and I left after that." Zack finished after a long tirade of his day at ShinRa. Reno nodded sympathetically as he handed Zack another drink. The other man gulped it down gratefully, and Reno kept his expression carefully pleasant.

"Zack," the redhead began "I have to ask you, from what I hear of ShinRa, you're not exactly at your happiest there. Why do you force yourself to continue?"

"Hum?" The man looked at him, eyes slightly unfocused. It takes a lot to get a SOLDIER drunk, as the Mako fought off the effects. Zack used to make a point of avoiding getting drunk, but gradually he grew to trust Reno enough to let him see the SOLDIER at that stage. The first time he actually got drunk, Reno had been kind enough to drag the SOLDIER up to where ShinRa housed their first class employees. Another time, Reno paid him a room, the quality of it depending on what Zack had done during his drunken stage. One time, Zack had woke up in an extremely filthy place, and Reno told him it was because he almost went streaking outside and it was highly embarrassing for the redhead.

Reno never brought Zack to Aerith for two reasons: One, he was sure no woman would like to see their boyfriend drunk, and two, he just didn't want Zack or Aerith to know he knew both of them.

"I guess…its that I like the job itself, not the people, the job. Plus…I wouldn't know where to begin if I was suddenly told to start over. Maybe a mercenary or bounty hunter…but I'm not quite sure."

Reno smiled, alcohol at least gave him honest answers. "What do you think of the presidents?"

"The President's brutal and his son is cruel" was the slightly slurred reply. The bartender, a beautiful young woman named Tifa, passed by their table and paused.

"Did your friend have enough?" She asked.

"In my opinion, not yet, but most people would not like drunkards, so I guess probably" Reno answered. He looked up at her "But one more drink for me!"

"One for me too" Zack added, grinning before shooting Reno a glare "and I am not a drunkard" He then placed his head back down on the table. Reno rolled his eyes.

"Two orders coming right up" Tifa moved away. As she did so, the front doors open again. By instinct, Reno turned to the door, he nearly choked.

The blond was disguised, his hair was messier, and his clothing was not the trademark white, but Reno would recognize the vice president from anywhere. More startlingly was the fact that there was no flock of soldiers or Turks accompanying him. Reno rubbed his eyes and looked again to make sure, it was definitely Rufus. Rufus with…wasn't that Reeve Tuesti of the Urban Development Department?

Reno blinked, last time he checked, Rufus and Reeve were nowhere close, and especially not during the time Rufus was Vice President. What the heck was going on? He quickly looked away to avoid getting caught staring, but his Mako enhanced hearing perked up and tried to eavesdrop on what they were saying.

Reeve was obviously uncomfortable, not with the place, Reno could tell, the behaviour was more directed to Rufus' presence. It looked as if he didn't plan to come down here with Rufus at all. As for the blond, he still had that air of superiority and arrogance, and made a point of sneering at the cheap drinks available in the bar. Nevertheless, he ordered one, and Reeve followed the example. Once their orders were placed and it appeared that no one would listen to them, Reeve addressed his companion.

"May I ask why you chose to come here, sir?"

"I could very well ask you the same thing" Rufus smiled almost maliciously.

"I simply wished to do a small study of the people."

"Something which I am sure others can handle."

Reeve said nothing, simply looked away. Reno almost felt sorry for the guy. He wouldn't before, but that was before the whole crisis with Jenova and Meteor occurred. He knew now that Reeve was one of the few officials who actually cared for the common people. Well, he knew that before, but at the same time he had simply viewed the guy as someone too nice for his own good and too much of a pushover. In his world now, Reeve was one of the most respected figures, and definitely better liked then the ShinRa family.

The drinks arrived to Reno's table, and he took a small gulp. Zack downed his in one, and Reno frowned again.

"You're awfully intent on getting drunk today" He noted "Something else happened that you didn't mention to me?"

Zack nodded, and because of the alcohol ruining his common sense, answered "I killed two people today."

"Criminals, you mean? Maybe terrorists?"

"Something like that," Zack set his glass down. "One of them was someone who's supposed to be reinforcement for some terrorist group. The other was a partner for the mission" Reno nearly choked on his drink this time, he looked up at the dark haired man, but the SOLDIER wasn't looking at him anymore. There was a faraway look in his eyes.

"You know what the funny thing about it is? It is the potential terrorist who's tearing me up on the inside." Zack placed a hand over his heart, a solemn air around him. Reno quickly forgot about the Vice President sitting a few tables from them. Rather, his eyes and ears were focused on the man in front of him.

"The SOLDIER just got promoted; he was young, fresh, and eager. Maybe filled with dreams of becoming the next hero, hoping to gain Sephiroth's respect. Had just proposed to his girlfriend, and promised to marry her after his first mission; has a mother and father depending on him. He also has a younger sister as well, waiting for him to attend her graduation from school. Now I have to phone them all and inform them that he's dead." Zack refocused on Reno

"The other guy, the potential terrorist, was from my hometown. He used to be my childhood friend, he was a real good guy with a sense of justice, but he…he choose to join the terrorists. He knew I was talking of joining SOLDIER, and he used to agree with me. Was the one who first brought up the idea, in fact. He didn't come to Midgar because of some family emergency at the time, but he told me that he would come sometime later. As the years passed, I thought he had decided against it, or that maybe he had died. As it turns out, he had join the opposite cause…"

"I see," Reno nodded. At wake of this knowledge, he didn't blink when Zack snatched another glass from a passing tray. Tifa shot him an annoyed look, but said nothing as she double back to get another. Reno said nothing as the pattern continued, Zack getting himself depressingly drunk. After a while, Reno decided he had enough "Come on, let's get you out of here." Without guilt he wished out Zack's wallet and paid for the drinks, though Reno used his own money for his own share. He stood up and began to drag Zack out of the bar.

It was at that moment Reeve noticed them.

"Sir, is that…?" He trailed off. Rufus, who had been scanning the customers at the other side, turn to where Reeve was looking. Even he recognized the First Class SOLDIER, who was currently being dragged up by a redhead; said redhead had his back to them as, with amazing strength considering his slender built, he dragged the SOLDIER up and out the doors.

"No matter" Rufus dismissed "What soldiers do in their spare time is none of my concern. From the report I received earlier, he was on a mission earlier that killed a newbie. Let him get drunk for a while, as long as he returns to his duty sober afterwards." At the concerned look Reeve was giving, the Vice President frown "Fine, go after him if you wish."

"That would be a good idea, sir" Reeve commented "A First Class SOLDIER usually have their picture published on frequent basis, so there is a good chance that if he run into any terrorists, they will try to get rid of him at his current stage." Reeve left the bar, leaving Rufus alone. The blond dismissed his presence easily, and his eyes scanned the crowd again for a pair of Mako eyes.

Reeve, meanwhile, stepped out of the bar and quickly saw trouble had indeed arrived. Zack was at the side, throwing up on the ground, while Reno stood nearby. Several bulky men surrounded him, a few of them carrying clubs and knives. They were all growling at the redhead, who looked irritated and at the same time, arrogant. The eyes were viewing the men with contempt. Underneath one of his feet was another man, sprawled over the floor, face grinded against the ground.

"How dare you…" A man growled

"Treating our friend this way, bitch!" Another snarled.

"You're going to pay!" A third continued. He drew his fist back and ran forward.

Reno didn't even blink.

A pale hand quickly caught the larger one, effectively blocking the attack. The same hand then twisted, and threw the man over the redhead's shoulder. Another rushed forward, and Reno simply moved his upper body to the side, his feet still locked in the same spot, before striking the man's neck with the side of his palm. One threw a knife forward, but the young man caught the blade between his fingers, before throwing it back. Another struck from behind, and the former Turk back flipped into the air, kicking the man as he landed back on his feet. Two of them raised their clubs and rushed at him with a yell, but the redhead simply grabbed one of them and threw them at the other. The two men were smashed against the wall, leaving several cracks. The man who had his head stepped on earlier scrambled out of the way and stared at the strange boy in front of him.

"Who the hell are you?" He demanded. Reno merely flexed his fingers, and that effectively stopped the man. He turned and ran, his gang following him.

"We'll remember this!" One of them swore, even as they ran off like frightened children.

A soft groan drew Reno's attention away; as he turned to look at Zack collect himself. The SOLDIER was rubbing his head and muttering, so Reno moved forward "Yo, Zack."

"Re-no" The man groaned "My head…hurts. You let me get drunk again?"

"At least you didn't do anything embarrassing this time, yo" Reno said dryly. Zack just groaned in response.

"Why were you beating up those men?"

"They thought they could steal your money and that I was someone they could pick up" Reno answered. He held out a hand "Get up now, soldier."

"Huh," Zack replied as he grasped the hand "Well, you are too skinny for your own good, not to mention you have pale skin and long hair." Reno let him go, and the SOLDIER yelped as he fell back down.

"Let's drag you back home before I decide to leave you out at the streets" The former Turk folded his arms and made a point of turning away to leave. As Zack complained about his headache, Reno spotted Reeve standing with wide eyes at the front doors.

"Yo, sir" Reno's voice shook Reeve out of his stunned state "By any chance, can you help me drag my friend here back to his home?"

"Wait…I can't do that. I don't know the SOLDIER homes…"

"It won't take you long, and do you really have to wait on your blond companion?" Reno asked. Although the words sound innocent, he knew that Reeve will take it another way. As he predicted, Reeve nodded, and stepped down. The two of them ignored Zack's words about being able ot handle himself as they placed one of Zack's arms over their shoulders and began walking. They arrived to the upper plates, and headed to the SOLDIER dorms. To fill in the silence, Reno was talking the whole time. The subjects were not personal though, and Reno made sure not to let slip anything that might incriminate him.

"…Speaking of Seventh Heaven, it's a very popular hangout since the bartender is famous for her beauty and ability to kick ass. She's not someone you would mess with. Don't know her political views or what she thinks of life at the moment, but I think she doesn't really like the pollution here. You hear her mention her country-side home more often then here…"

Reeve didn't say anything except to make a hum of acknowledgement. His eyes had been too busy scanning the people, trying to study how the 'commoners' were doing. It slightly pained him to see most of their feelings consist of despair and anger. Yet, as they moved closer to ShinRa made homes for their workers, the faces grew fewer, and as a result he studied Zack's strange companion, coming upon a strange realization.

The redhead had Mako eyes.

That wasn't common for the normal people.

They were reaching some of the quieter areas now, and Reno was starting to calm down after his non-stop rant. Reeve studied the redhead's common clothing, the pale and unblemished skin that should have been toughened due to the fight with those men. When Reno finally paused, Reeve took a chance.

"Look...Reno, I've wanted to ask for a while, but who are you?"

Reno blinked, and glanced at him strangely "I told you already, I'm Reno, Zack's latest drinking buddy, nothing else."

Reeve stared at him "That's a lie"

Reno returned the stare "What are you talking about?"

"You're not, to quote, nothing else" Reeve clarified "What are you hiding from me? Your words regarding ShinRa...there's contempt in your voice. What happened in your past? You're hiding something, I know it."

"Oh really?" A strange gleam suddenly entered Reno's bright Mako eyes "What about you? What are you hiding from me?"

"What…what are you talking about?"

"Do you have anything you are hiding from me, kind stranger?"

"No-Nothing, I'm just…as you said…I'm just a kind stranger."

"That's a lie" There was something sharp in that voice now and the tone made the hair on the back of Reeve's neck stand.

"What…why would you say that?"

"Kind stranger, you said you know nothing about the SOLDIER dorms earlier, didn't you? I was watching you as we arrived here. You didn't need my help at all; you knew where the SOLDIER dorms were from the very beginning. That's not all either, that blond companion you had with you…I believe I have seen his face before. Actually, I'm sure I have seen him before."

The air suddenly grew very still; the smile Reno had earlier had something resembling danger on those lips now.

"Who was he, your blond companion?"

"He…he was just someone working above me"

"Under ShinRa laws, why would a superior want to fraternize with his underling?"

"I'll actually like to know that as well!"

"Then, why was he looking around the bar so calculatingly? Looking for terrorists?"

"That's…that's none of your business…"

"Truly?" The Mako eyes closed, curved up in a happy arc. Reeve nodded, almost eagerly.

"Yes, it really…it really has nothing to do with you."

"_**YOU ARE A LIAR REEVE TUESTI!!!!" **_

The scream cut through the air and echoed in the streets. Several rats hiding in the shadows squeaked and scrambled out, their feet scratching the ground as they spread out across the floor. Other vermin spread out along the walls, crawling into the light like a hideous creature sliding against the flat surfaces. Reno's expression had twisted terrifyingly, distorting his features and giving him an expression of pure anger. The happy smile that he had been wearing earlier had completely disappeared. Reeve was rooted on the spot, staring almost in terror as the redhead dropped Zack down and advanced towards him.

"Just like how you and ShinRa have your own secrets, _kind stranger_…" Reno purred as brought his once-again-smooth face close to the older man's "The common people and I have our own as well."

"I…I understand" Reeve nodded. Reno pulled back, and smiled welcomingly at him again.

"Let's go," He chirped as he helped the fallen SOLDIER up again "Zack's home isn't that far from here."

**(1) The Orion constellation is usually seen besides the Greek mythological river **_**Eridanus**_

**Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, anyone? I swear I love that scene XD Rena, Mion, Shion, Satoko and Riku are great characters. Who wants to start a Higurashi fandom? **

**Wow, three fics (One More Chance, In Cold Embraces, and This Vampire's Addiction) all updated at one go. My way of being generous after High School graduation. Or maybe it's just my way of showing I will not abandon my stories, as I still have provincial exams to finish. At that stage, updates will probably come slower. Unless I get a drastic amount of reviews (hint hint) **


	4. Your Friend

**My New Year resolution is to finish at least ONE of my other fictions along with **_**In Cold Embraces**_** before I start a new story. This story isn't going to end up as complicated as **_**This Vampire's Addiction**_** or as set as **_**In Cold Embraces**_** so it shouldn't take that long to finish…I think. **

Life was good. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, children were laughing, and adults were gossiping.

That's a lie.

Midgar was infamous for its pollution and plates meaning there was no sign of the sun, the birds were actually just the sound of trinkets hitting each other, there were no children around the vicinity, and the adults were too busy staring at the scene he was making to gossip.

"What do you _mean_ he's gone?!"

"Hey kid, he's just giving you news, put the guy down!"

"I come back down here, I hear news that he's awake, I rush here and _I'm told you let him escape_?!"

"For Mako's sake dude, put the guy down!"

"If your intelligence failed to understand my words, I'm sure I told you _several_ times in _several_ variations that you were responsible for the protection of _two_ people. I paid you money for them, and you still failed to do your duty?"

"Reno, put him down this instant!"

The female voice of Aerith gained his attention quicker then the first two others, and Reno's movements stilled. Meaning, he was still holding a man up by his throat as said man's feet dangled in the air. The man was choking and gasping for breath, while Reno remained standing calmly where he was. He didn't seem to care he was already getting a few stares, and without turning around he addressed the Cetra "Aerith, if you may please kindly turn around, as I believe you will want to be spared the details of what I'm about to do because this guy failed his duties."

"If you're that angry about your friend's disappearance, why are you not mad at me as well? Your friend was my responsibility as well, wasn't he? I don't see you being so inclined to fight me!" Aerith moved forward to stand in front of the red head, "Let him go already, for a mercenary he's done his role in guarding me."

Though the mercenary he hired was still held up in the air, Reno's gaze focused on Aerith. Her gaze was strong now, something he had only seen in the Aerith from his old world, not the one here. Knowing her capabilities, he let out a sneer before he dropped the man to the ground. The man doubled over, coughing and gasping, as Reno turned away, "I'm going to look for him."

"What's going on here?" At another familiar voice, Reno looked up to see Orion wheeled into the area, flanked by several other men. The green-haired man stopped in front of Reno and Aerith, "what is the meaning of this?"

"Orion," Reno answered. "Due to my duties and personal paranoia, I hired this fool here" – an indication to the gasping man – "to protect my sleeping friend Cloud and the flower girl. However, today I'm told that the man failed his duties and my friend is now missing. Right now, I am horrified, and very angry. Cloud is reckless, no matter his injuries he will try to move, and his skills aside I know he will be shocked when he sees where he is. I need to find him before someone hurts him or he hurts someone."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"If I may ask sir, is there something happening here that requires your presence?" a voice asked, and Rufus looked up to see a Turk standing there. He was slightly surprised, he would have thought with the latest gunfight with the terrorists the Turks would be more willing to work in pairs. Then again, Rude was one of the best Turks they had ever seen, and often a solo worker.

"No, Rude, I'm simply…observing things," Rufus answered. He briefly wondered where Reeve was, and then dismiss the thought. So far since entering this establishment, aside from the occasional ShinRa soldier, he had not seen any pair of Mako eyes. Noticing how Rude was still standing, he gestured for the man to sit down, "I don't want to draw any unnecessary attention Rude, sit down."

The man obeyed and sat down; Tifa took his order and disappeared behind the counter, leaving the men alone once more. Rude would not speak unless spoke to, so a silence settled over them as Rufus continued observing the patrons. Then the door opened and two men walked in, one of them supporting the other.

"Man, that is some mark there; your neck is still red!"

"That kid's crazy!" the man choked out, rubbing his neck, "I'm telling you, he would have killed me right there if the girl didn't stop him."

"The kid is one of Orion's favourite mercenaries; of course he's got to be skilled. They say his young appearance hides an older soul, that he's gone one against several and came out victorious, and that he's almost _allowed_ to be cocky because he can beat you if you challenge him. I would have thought you'll pick that up, given his Mako eyes." At those words Rufus paused, and though he remained staring at his drink his ears were now listening solely to the group.

"What is he, a former ShinRa lackey? Or some kid who fell into some reactor when he was younger and got enhanced with super strength? He'll catch the attention of ShinRa soon; I hope they'll deal with him."

"Keep your voice down, he's going about the streets looking for his friend right now, and he's going to get help. If someone hears you, you might find yourself in deeper trouble then you can handle."

Muttering, the two of them sat down, ordered drinks, and soon were discussing other matters. Rufus frowned, disappointed with the lack of further information, but then another man sitting not far from him chuckled. "Orion's latest employee is gathering himself more attention again."

Rufus looked at the man, who was swirling an empty glass in his hands. The ShinRa tilted his head, "what do you mean?"

The man smirked and rested his chin on his hand, "Tell me, sir, do you believe that power is gained, or inherited?"

"I do not understand," Rufus responded. Beside him, Rude was watching cautiously, even though his sunglasses hid it quite well. The man looked at Rufus again, his gaze knowing.

"It's not fair, that some people work hard and train for years before becoming known, and yet others managed to cheat their way through. Granted, in ShinRa you have to work your way to the top before you're granted doses of Mako to strengthen you, but on the streets? Those types of things seem to happen by chance, like Orion's latest employee, who has been infused with Mako before. If you look at him, his eyes seem to glow at you, cat-like, almost threatening. Right now, I will be feeling sorry for anyone who dares steps his way."

"Why is that?"

"If there's one weakness the Mako kid has, it's his spiky-haired blond friend who just woke up from a deep coma-like sleep. Those guys that just came in? One of them was hired to protect said friend, but the friend disappeared. So now, Mako Eyes is angry, and he'll be tearing up the streets looking for him. If he goes to the eastern side of Midgar, I believe he'll find him."

Rufus smirked, "you'll know this because…?"

"I took a shot out earlier when I saw a stranger in my territory and he escaped quickly, wasn't till later did I recall that the kid fits the description of Mako Eyes' friend perfectly," the man answered. He looked at Rufus, "If you'll like to find Eridanus' latest employee, I suggest finding the chocobo-like friend. It will be to your benefit, as Mako Eyes happen to be someone related to the incident with the Turks some time ago."

The reference to the gun fight was more then enough to confirm to Rufus he wasn't just dealing with an over-talkative civilian. The ShinRa heir nodded before paying for his drinks and leaving the establishment, Rude behind him faithfully. Once they were well away from the Seventh Heaven bar, Rufus spoke up "What did you think of the information, Rude?"

"He is either setting us up, or wants us to get rid of his opposition's strength."

"Indeed, I recall that Orion is leader of the Eridanus terrorist group. Look at them, Rude, despite sharing common goals they are more then willing to backstab the other. If that is the case, the information we were provided will be useful. It makes no difference to me which terrorist organization we take down first. However, due to the circumstances I am not so willing to take his advice and seek this 'chocobo-like friend'." Rufus turned to Rude, and the Turk knew he was going to be given an order.

"Follow our informant when he comes out, I'll like to see exactly who we're dealing with."

"Yes, sir"

Rufus dismissed the Turk before turning around and leaving the place, he would try to find Mako Eyes some other time.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Despite his refusal, Orion insisted on tailing Reno, who felt irritated enough to knock the man down from his wheelchair. Reno needed to cover as much ground as he could, but progress would be slowed should he allow Orion to follow him. It annoyed the former Turk like mad, but he gritted his teeth and tried to tell himself that Cloud will be fine.

So when Reno and his group finally found him, Reno was properly shocked when he saw the blond leaning against a dirty wall and clutching a bleeding shoulder.

"Cloud!"

The younger male looked up at the sound of his name, spotting Reno's red hair easily among the group. Reno ran forward to his side, examining the bleeding wound on his companion's shoulder "Cloud, what happened?"

"He shot me," Cloud answered. His voice was hoarse, probably just readjusting to its use after a silence for so long. "He's alive…but he shot me."

"Reno, Orion sir!" Another man of Eridanus arrived, pausing only once to look at the scene: A blond stranger injured and leaning against the wall, Reno by his side with a concerned look in his eyes. Orion and his personal guards were not far off, watching. They all looked at the messenger, who first went to Orion and leaned down, whispering some news into the man's ear. The leader of Eridanus nodded before the messenger then went to Reno's side, noting how the redhead instantly moved a hand protectively in front of the blond. The messenger whispered his news to Reno's ear, and the former Turk let out a vicious snarl. He took a few steps away from the messenger and his injured companion so he could rage.

"How dare he! How dare that man…he's going to pay!"

"Reno, you're not thinking of killing him, right?" The messenger asked worriedly. Reno whirled around to face him.

"And why not?! He may be strong when he has his AVALANCHE friends around him, but alone? He's human, with no modifications done on his body; his reliance on automatic weapons will be his downfall!"

"Don't you dare!" Cloud suddenly shouted as he moved forward to the former Turk. The sudden movement shot pain through his body, and his hand flew back to the wound before he fell forward. Reno was there to catch him as the blond collapsed into his arms, panting. The redhead calmly pulled Cloud down, seating him against the wall. Pale fingers slipped inside his pocket, before pulling out a pocket knife. Reno held it in front of Cloud, who looked at warily before Reno spoke.

"Don't move."

One of Orion's men made a start, shocked at the easy way Reno seemed to be threatening his friend, but Orion raised a hand and stopped him from doing anything. As the Eridanus members watched, Cloud looked back into Reno's eyes and nodded, giving the redhead permission. The Turk held out his hand and a burst of fire came into life, which Reno held the knife over for several minutes. Afterwards, Reno then leaned forward with the knife and dipped it into Cloud's bloody shoulder. The blond gritted his teeth as Reno twisted it, causing blood to run down the blade of the knife, before the bullet was removed his shoulder. It made a light sound as it fell to the floor, and Reno wiped the blade clean before sheathing it and dropping it back to his pocket.

"Allow me?" Reno asked, and once again, Cloud nodded.

Reno laid one of his hands on Cloud's uninjured shoulder; the other held onto Cloud's other arm, which had ribbons of blood trickling down due to the wound. Pressing his body down to stop Cloud from suddenly jerking, Reno placed his lips over the wound to draw out any poisoning from the bullet. Cloud let out a hiss and by instinct tried to jerk, but Reno kept him down easily. The redhead finally drew back and spat out the blood to the pavement. This continued for a few more times before Reno released Cloud from his grasp. He turned to his observers, "Any of you have bandages?"

The messenger did, and Reno wrapped it around Cloud's wound to stop the bleeding. He will bring Cloud back to Aerith to get some proper health care, and Aerith can answer all the questions Cloud has as she knew as much as Reno what had happened. He'll also let her be the one who will explain to Cloud it will take some time for their bodies to adjust to the new environment, so Cloud better rest first before jumping off to go fight someone.

"Let me take you back, Cloud. All questions will be answered soon, but until then stop your self-sacrificing tendencies and focus on just healing. Your Mako supply won't be responding as quickly to your wounds just yet, so don't relay on it until later. Understand, yo?"

Cloud nodded, and took Reno's offered hand to help himself stand up. He said nothing when Reno pulled him closely to his side as the redhead spoke to Orion – something about taking a week break – and made no complaint as Reno steered him away. The walk to the church passed by quickly, as Cloud was still caught in his shock, daze, and confusion. When he saw Aerith, the latter emotion only increased. Reno spoke to the Ancient without hostility or crude words, as if they were regular friends, before Cloud was pushed inside the Church.

"I'll come back to see him later, keep an eye on him, yo."

"Of course, Reno, but where are you going? Didn't you just tell me you were taking a break from Orion's employment?"

"Yea, but first I have to deal with something."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

When the man finally left the bar, Rude followed him as per Rufus' orders. The seasoned Turk stayed quiet and remained in the shadows, and his target did not appear to be aware of his tail at all. There was an aura of arrogant cockiness in his manner, and Rude guessed that the man felt he could take on anyone who tried to challenge him.

Of course, as soon as that thought crossed Rude's mind, his target stopped walking. Rude halted, cautious, but soon saw the man did not stop because he sensed he was being followed. No, the target stopped because other men were emerging from the shadows, as if they had been waiting for him. To Rude's interest, the men did not smile or treat his target like a comrade, instead they looked at him with cold eyes and one of them spoke.

"What have you done, Biggs?"

"I don't understand what you mean, Andrew," Rude's target – Biggs – answered.

"We've received intelligence that you tried to sell out someone under Orion's protection," the young man answered. "Despite the, and I quote, _friendly_ _rivalry_ between our organizations we have never once sold a member of the other out. We were working together in our last attack against ShinRa. Your actions cause distrust between us, tell me, what are the intentions of AVALANCHE?"

"That's where you are wrong," Biggs answered. "I never sold any of your members out; I released no information about the identity of Orion's new pet."

"Nevertheless, you sold out the friend of Orion's favourite mercenary," Andrew countered. "Not only that, but you took a shot at him."

"He was trespassing, how was I to know that he was the sleeping friend you've all been protecting?"

"But do you regret your actions?"

"I do not."

"Just as Orion's mercenary suspected," Andrew raised one hand up. "Then, for the sake of keeping him under control, I must bring you back to him before he hunts you down on his own, ignoring Orion's wishes."

"Aren't you afraid of what my subordinates would do?" Biggs asked.

"No," Andrew answered honestly, "For if he could turn the favour to us in a battle with the Turks, he will bring the favour to us easier in a battle with AVALANCHE."

"You…!"

"Restrain him."

The men surrounding Biggs, who up till then had remained silent and unmoving, lunged. Biggs however was no weakling, and fought back viciously. Surprisingly, no weapon was drawn; it was hand to hand combat. Biggs fought well, but it was mostly due to the fact that his attackers seem to want to only capture him, not kill him. Rude, watching this, decided that would not be in ShinRa's best interests. Judging by the conversation, he could guess that the target Biggs was from AVALANCHE, and the other men were of Eridanus – two infamous terrorist organizations. They worked together during their last attack on ShinRa, but Rude had heard their alliance was weak. Distrust was still stirring among them and most if not all the members of one group will overreact if anything suspicious occurred. 'Questioning' in terrorist terms usually meant some dose of torture to get their victims to talk.

If anything, ShinRa should be the ones questioning the terrorists, so Rude decided to act.

The first man barely had time to react; Rude knocked him out cold with no problem. Rufus, he knew, would prefer having ShinRa question this 'Biggs' on his role in terrorist affairs, so Rude might as well bring him back. He looked around, the terrorists staring at him couldn't seem to believe their eyes – a Turk had came to challenge them alone and unarmed, so soon after the infamous gunfight. Rude almost rolled his eyes, he closed his hand into a fist and punched another man, knocking him out. Really, if only terrorists were usually this easily stunned, the Turks would have dealt with them much easier.

It took only a few seconds for Rude to deal with the men of Eridanus. Andrew was now backing away, as if trying to flee without drawing too much attention. Rude didn't mind letting him go, the guy wasn't his target, Biggs was. That man turned, to run or fight Rude didn't care, for he simply slammed the terrorist against the wall and twisted his arms behind him. This effectively made sure the terrorist couldn't retaliate against the Turk.

"Biggs was it, I think ShinRa would like to have a little talk with you."

"Go to hell, ShinRa dog!" The man yelled.

"You may be released after ShinRa deems your information accurate and reliable," Rude continued, but as soon as the words left his lips, a new voice countered him.

"No, I'm going to be the one who decides his fate."

Biggs froze, his eyes widened almost in horror. Confused at the reaction, Rude turned to look at the source of the voice.

Dark shoes slid against the surface of the crackling pavement smoothly despite their obvious scruffy appearance. A cigarette dangled from a pair of full lips before it finally fell, where it was then crushed by the dark shoes. The clothes of the newcomer were as scruffy, but there was something in his posture that spoke of a sleek arrogance usually possessed only in skilled politicians. Flyaway red hair framed a young, pale face, and a pair of goggles hid the eyes of the young man.

"I don't know why you're here, Turk, but any chance of a peaceful surrender of the terrorist you currently hold in your custody?"

Rude looked at the newcomer in disbelief, though his sunglasses hid the expression "Either you are extremely stupid, or extremely confident. I do not plan to just hand this terrorist over, ShinRa will deal with him."

"That man has done something against another individual, not the state, and relationships between individuals are technically not under ShinRa jurisdiction. ShinRa has no official proof against him either, so his crimes are not against society, simply another individual; and those combats should be settled on a one-on-one basis."

"ShinRa has authorization to apprehend anyone found in suspicious circumstances," Rude answered. The redhead he was facing sighed.

"I did not wish to engage in another fight so soon, especially not against you, but you stand in my way. Andrew, step back."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Zack held up another letter and let out a long-suffering sigh. More work to do. Normally SOLDIERS did not deal with this much work, but with half the Turks out of action, their work had been merrily sent off to them. It was more then enough to put stress on the SOLDIERS, and Zack knew he wasn't the only one who was annoyed. In fact, he knew his fellow soldiers were all getting irritated. Take Sephiroth, for example.

Sephiroth had been telling everyone off recently, as if they were all young miscreants. Zack knew that the general was stressed, but it was getting harder and harder to stay on good terms with someone who kept contradicting one's suggestions.

"We should send more SOLDIERS in this area." "No, that area is not suspicious enough."

"We need to increase the men for here." "No, we need to spread them out and cover more ground."

"We should send this unit to protect the executive." "No, that unit is better trained to protect _this_ executive."

"The swords have good balance." "No, mine is better, so _blllaaattt_."

Okay, so Sephiroth didn't say that last sentence, but Zack could _tell_ he meant something similar when they started talking about the swords available in the weaponry storage. Once again, this usually wasn't something under SOLDIER responsibility as usually they were handed a weapon and that was that. Zack sighed, sometimes he wished there was an attack so he could just leave and get a good battle instead. Shaking his head, he left the room. To his surprise, he saw another figure waiting outside, a familiar young man dressed in a white business suit. Zack went into attention and saluted.

"Vice-President, sir!"

"At ease, SOLDIER," Rufus commanded, and Zack did so. Rufus made no move to start conversation and Zack, who had never really known the ShinRa heir, remained silent. He wasn't sure whether he should stay still or leave, as Rufus did not seem to want him for anything. Yet the ShinRa heir was staring at him, eyes cool and analytical. Eventually Zack decided to move, but before he could take his first step Rufus spoke again, "SOLDIER, in your opinion which terrorist group is more dangerous, AVALANCHE or Eridanus?"

Zack blinked, but could see no trap in the question, so he answered honestly, "AVALANCHE."

"Why?"

"Sir, AVALANCHE is known for its more flashy displays. In other words, they are more willing to fight us and blow things up randomly. Eridanus on the other hand sets targets and do not bother with small fry, while AVALANCHE uses every opportunity to weaken ShinRa power. Eridanus, too, has no problem with being called cowards if a retreat is called. AVALANCHE however hosts the more radical ideals, and their members will give up their lives to get rid of us. That sort of blind loyalty is dangerous, and even Eridanus has once called it stupid."

"I've heard something similar," Rufus turned away, looking at something in the distance. With his back to Zack, he continued, "In the last assassination attempt against my father, Eridanus and AVALANCHE claimed to be working together, but knowing the pride of AVALANCHE, do you think they would actually do so?"

"If it is to the benefit for them I do not see why they won't work together, they just…"

"Would probably end up arguing against each other; Yes, there is the possibility that the members realized they share common goals and should put behind their differences, but knowing their leaders' almost conservative views do you think it's likely?"

"No," Zack admitted, "but they are working together to organize such a huge scale attack, so if its not the old leaders, then there's a chance it's a new one, or even a member who has been gaining influence…"

"Exactly," Rufus pointed out. "I know it's not rare for those on the streets with the correct connections to make them seemingly invincible. Body modifications, enhanced robotic limbs, a vast world of underground arms trade, a specialized field will allow one person to wield power and fear over the masses, which may even be more then enough to influence some old geezer leading a group of miscreants."

"Sir?"

"One of the terrorists that were involved in that assassination attempt, one of those who tried to kill me, and possibly the same one who made contact with Tseng during the gunfight a few days ago; he had Mako eyes."

It was like a dose of cold water flung into Zack's face as with those simple words, the temperature of the room seemed to drop several degrees. Zack stared at the vice-president's back, who was not even facing him with just his back anymore. Rufus was looking at him over his shoulder, his eyes glinting almost dangerously as he stared at the dark-haired man.

"What are you saying, sir?"

"I heard an interesting remark just a moment earlier from the Head of the Urban Development Department," Rufus smiled frostily. "He mentioned a commoner with Mako eyes, and that the commoner had red hair. Now, I couldn't see the colour of the terrorist's hair during the attack, but when I was talking with Tseng he also said that the terrorist he faced had Mako eyes and red hair."

The accurate description of Reno made Zack's stomach curl uncomfortably. The friend he had met, the boy who had listened to his rants, the person who helped him back home just moments ago…was that all performance? Was the friendly young man actually a terrorist hell bent on destroying ShinRa no matter the cost of human life?

"Soldier, tell me," Rufus continued. "If one learns that their friend is actually the enemy, will the person be strong enough to execute the orders of their superior, for the greater good of the city?"

Zack said nothing.

"Soldier."

The dark-haired man looked up to meet cold blue eyes. He swallowed, "If it's for the good of the city, I will not hesitate."

"Good."

Right at that moment, a cell phone rang. The tension in the room was broken, and Rufus picked up calmly, "Rufus ShinRa speaking…yes…_what_?!" The tone drew Zack's attention back to the vice-president, whose eyes were narrowed dangerously. "I see…very well then, I shall come immediately." He hung up, and Zack decided to ask.

"Sir, may I ask…?"

"That was the hospital," Rufus answered. "We've suffered another attack on the Turks, probably those terrorists again, but we won't know until the Turk wakes up from his concussion and…" He let out a breath "…electric shock."

"Electric shock?"

"That was the critical factor, aside from the concussion that is. A patrolling soldier found him lying unconscious against a wall in the Midgar streets. He wasn't bleeding, and the doctors have determined him to not be in critical condition. He's one of our best Turks, so his training may have contributed to the relative safety of his physical health. However, there's something else that stands as a concern for me."

Zack didn't have to wait long for Rufus to tell him.

"I sent him off on a rather minor mission right before this, if his current state is the result it makes the whole thing more serious. He was supposed to just be following a small target. The target gave us information on the terrorist with Mako eyes," Rufus turned back to Zack, "do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir"

"Dismissed."

Zack left the corridor, wondering whether his quick footsteps were because he wanted to get away from the vice-president or because he wanted to find his 'friend' quickly. In any case, he was soon out of the corridor and well away from the younger ShinRa's eyes. He knew what Rufus was implying; somehow the blond had found out that Zack had been with a redhead who had Mako in his eyes. He was asking Zack whether he would treat Reno as an enemy, and arrest or kill him as one. Zack ran a hand through his dark hair; luck seemed to be really down on his side. By chance, he met up with Sephiroth.

"Hey Seph!"

Sephiroth twitched at the nickname, but ignored it, by now he was used to the other's antics. "Is there a reason why you are calling me?"

"Where are you headed?"

"To the hospital, a unit of SOLDIERS just returned."

"I'll come with you! I have some errands to attend to as well."

Sephiroth did not agree, but he did not say no either, so Zack tagged along. In reality Zack knew Sephiroth wasn't visiting a few soldiers, it was probably an excuse to get out of the building and away from the paperwork. Anyone would go crazy after all the work assigned to them since the Turks were out of action. The two of them went to the hospital, and while Sephiroth conversed with the leader of the unit, Zack went off to the corridor which held all the Turks. In one of them, he spotted a fit, bald man sprouting a goatee. Curiosity got the better of him and he opened the door to the room, walking forward to the man lying on the bed.

If Zack recalled correctly, the man was…

"Rude, one of the best Turks we have," another man entered the room, and this one Zack had no trouble recognizing: Tseng, leader of the Turks. Zack had read the report about Tseng's current condition due to the gunfight, but the man appeared to be recovering nicely. "Zack Fair, may I ask what you are doing here?"

"I was with the vice-president when I heard the news of his condition, that's all," Zack answered. Tseng looked at Rude's form.

"The terrorists grow bolder each day, but I'm surprised that they didn't kill him."

"How do you know it wasn't a fluke?"

"According to the doctors, the shock was administered in an amount that wasn't serious enough to kill or do serious damage. What was more; the body was placed to the side carefully, to minimize injuries. It wasn't just dumped there. Another thing is that the scene he was found in indicated his body was moved from a more remote area to the path taken by patrolling ShinRa forces. Someone wanted him alive, and someone wanted him found by ShinRa so that he could be taken into care. This whole affair is suspicious; but we have to wait until Rude wakes up to learn what truly happened."

"I see you two seem to be getting along," another voice drawled in as a man entered the room. Tseng and Zack went into attention stance again.

"Sir!"

"At ease," the head of ShinRa's Public Safety Maintenance Department, Heidegger, commanded. "Finding the two of you here, good, the vice-president has new orders. SOLDIER First Class Zack Fair, as of this moment you are assigned on the mission to track down a redhead terrorist with Mako eyes, and bring him back alive. That is your priority; all other duties are second unless ordered by the presidents. Cooperation with the Turks will be available if necessary."

"The Vice-president assigned this, sir?"

"Yes."

Zack knew Rufus was setting this up, making Zack head whatever operation might come into being to bring his friend into custody. For one moment a surge of guilt squeezed his heart, as he imagined Reno walking towards him smiling as usual, only to realize to his horror that Zack was there to subtle and imprison him. Then Zack remembered the fact that if Reno was a terrorist, everything he had known about him might have been fake, so he swallowed and resolved to find him. He brought himself out of his thoughts to look back at his superior, who had been looking at him impatiently.

"Do you have any questions, soldier?"

"No, sir. Rest assure I will do my best to complete this task."

"Good, the vice-president told me to give you this," Heidegger handed a file to Zack, who opened it as soon as it was in his hands. There was a photo of a man and some brief information, the name was stated as…

"Biggs? Weird name."

"The Turk was following him before this happened," Heidegger casually indicated Rude's almost comatose state. "It's most likely related, so it'll be best if you can figure out how and why."

"Yes sir."

With that, Zack left the hospital and headed down to the slums of Midgar. He knew where he had to go to draw Reno's attention, so without hesitating he headed to Seventh Heaven. As he walked, he also recalled that Biggs had also been spotted in the bar before; with luck he could catch them together.

When he arrived to the bar, he saw neither of them.

Then again, now that he thought about it Zack was sure Reno had him under watch. More then half the time whenever Zack came, Reno tended to join him shortly after. So the SOLDIER sat down and placed an order, before beckoning to the beautiful young bartender.

"Seen Biggs around lately?"

"Hum? You're one of his friends?" At Zack's nod, Tifa shrugged, "Saw him earlier today, had a drink but left rather quickly afterwards. He should be coming back though, left his jacket here. So expect him anytime soon."

Zack nodded and thanked her. The girl walked away, drawing stares. Zack looked around and sighed, he felt like this was going to be a long wait. Hopefully Tifa will be right and Biggs would come bursting in looking for his jacket. Zack paused, should he just trail the man, or redirect his attention to waiting for Reno? And if instead Reno came first, should he just take him into custody?

The answer to that one was obvious: yes. The order came from the vice-president himself; catching Reno was his top priority. Everything else was secondary. Biggs himself was nothing more then a clue to Reno.

The phone rang, the shrill noise startling Zack. Tifa gave him an apologetic look before picking up, "Hello? Oh Wedge, what's up?"

There was a pause, then Tifa's eyes widened "Biggs is dead?!"

Zack's head shot up in disbelief when the words left the girl's lips. Tifa stared back at him, the shock on her face mirroring his own.

**To old readers: Hi and welcome back! Think I should continue or have you already lost interest?  
To new readers: Hope you've enjoyed this fic! ****Leave any questions you may have in your review! **


	5. Eyes of Mako

**Midterms are killing me, and as I sit here waiting in the library for one of my friends, I managed to type this all up in one setting. Shows how late my friend is. **

There were guards standing around the area, and there were yellow tapes preventing people from trespassing, but almost everyone present knew that the investigation will be one done half-heartedly and probably abandoned quickly. After all, it was a terrorist's death, why should they help him with justice when he himself was a criminal?

Zack glanced at the people on the scene as he flashed his ID before entering. Technically as a SOLDIER this wasn't his jurisdiction, but no one tried to stop him. He moved forward to stare at the body.

The corpse was laid facedown on the floor, and his body was surrounded by broken glass pieces. Zack knelt down by the man and looked up. He found himself staring at a tall, old and most likely abandoned building. One of the tallest floors had a broken window; Zack could guess Biggs crashed through the glass before falling to the ground below.

Fall…or he was pushed off.

Zack went first to the window on the lowest floor and examined it critically with his eyes. The window was old, and while not cracked there was a layer of dust on top. Spider webs clung onto the corners and lead to shadows of the building. To Zack, it looked as if no one had been in the building for a while.

Then he went to the door of the building, it was also old, but not so dusty. As Zack watched, an officer with gloved hands tried turning the door handle, and it swung open easily. Inside the building was dark, the outside light unable to penetrate the dust of the windows. More dust and cob webs once again covered everything in the interior, but as the officer shined a light forward, several pairs of footsteps were seen on the floor. They all headed up to the stairs, but the more recent ones showed them going down the stairs and back out the door.

"Well, I don't think we'll be lucky enough to catch the culprits…if this was a murder," another officer was saying to his colleagues. He didn't dare meet Zack in the eyes, as if afraid of doing something that might trigger Zack's or ShinRa's wrath. Zack followed them up the stairs; they went at a slow pace, pausing often to shine their flashlights around or picking up things they assume might be important. On each floor Zack saw no sign of life or people living in the building. He, along with the officers, simply followed the trail of footprints up the stairs before eventually reaching one of the higher floors of the building.

This floor had chairs and a variety of footprints. Because of the broken window, light streamed into the room, and the officers turned off their flashlights. The place still had too much dust to be lived in, but it did indicate a recent occupancy. The officers glanced at each other before they began working, stooping down to pick up a few strands of hair with tweezers or their gloved hands. Zack himself walked around the area, trying to look for something that might prove helpful. Something white caught the corner of his eyes, and he turned to see something small glinting in the cracks of the wall.

He hurried forward and knelt down to the crack, momentarily he was surprised that it was a piece of what looked like film, or maybe a part of a photograph. Zack turned and gestured to one of the officers, "Over here."

The man used a pair of tweezers to pull the piece out of the cracks of the wall. They stared at what was obviously a piece of a photograph. The jagged ends indicated it had probably been ripped out of its whole. The triangular shape of the piece was probably done as one party held the middle of a photograph, and another party pulled at the two ends, for the triangular state was ripped through the center and was not the result of just ripping off a corner.

"_Give it to me!" A voice __shouted at Biggs, who tried to take the photographs back. A pair of hands seized the photo by both hands and pulled, while Biggs yanked from the other direction. The photo ripped, with a middle piece in Biggs' hand and the rest in his opponent's. _

"What is this photo part of?" The officer asked out loud as he and Zack stared at the piece they now held. The small piece showed three colours, a vague grey at the background, and then a pale peach colour at one side of the photo piece. A red crescent-like shape stood in sharp contrast on the peach colour. "Hey guys! Check out what we've got!"

The rest of the officers crowded over Zack's shoulder to see the photo piece. While some dismissed it as junk and unimportant, they were still curious on what the photo was. One of them began voicing his thoughts, "The grey at this side of the photo here is vague and almost blurry, unlike the sharper colours of the peach and red here. The curve of the peach colour and the shades seems to imply that this object is the closer object, the grey is probably just background. As for the red crescents here…I'm not sure…they look rather sharp and almost painful…"

"Painful?" Zack repeated.

"_Yo, my name is Reno, nice to me you," the redhead stuck out his hand and smiled. Two twin crescents scars crinkled up with it, and Zack's __first reply to Reno's greeting was "Are those scars painful?" _

Zack stared, the red crescents on the photo looked startlingly like Reno's. If that was the case…was this a photograph of Reno?

_Reno…did you kill Biggs?_

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Look at this here, Andrew," the cold voice that the redhead spoke with would have made even a stronger man flinch. As it was, even Andrew shivered. While Reno was very easy-going and laid-back most of the time, the few times he spoke in such a cold tone usually were a warning to others that Reno was less then happy. The Eridanus member approached the table warily.

"Yes?"

Reno's sitting position would have lowered anyone's guard – anyone who didn't know him, that is. Andrew by now knew the other young man well enough. The redhead's feet were stretched forward in front of him, resting on the table. Messy red hair framed his face, pushed aside only because of his goggles. One of his hands held a lighter, which nurtured a small flame he had been using to burn the photos. When Andrew arrived to the table, Reno picked up a torn photo and tossed it between them, "Look at this."

The photo was torn from the middle and almost cut the photo in half. It was missing a triangular section from the middle, but from its torn edges the photo was obviously of Reno talking to Orion. Andrew looked at the picture, then back at Reno, who was moving his lighter in the air. When he said nothing, Reno sighed and explained, "I couldn't find the missing piece, which means it may be lying outside somewhere. Best case scenario, it's treated like trash, thrown away and forgotten. Worst case scenario, it's gotten into the hands of ShinRa or the police when they discovered Bigg's body."

"But we were careful not to drop any of the photos when we were returning back!" Andrew cried, "Reno, please, it can't be the fault of our men…!"

"Andrew, stop it," Reno sighed. "Even if it was our men, I haven't said anything yet. Nor am I planning to punish anyone anytime soon, honestly you act so frightened of me at times." Andrew shut his mouth, although they got along well most of the time, Andrew jumped every time Reno showed displeasure. He thought himself rightly justified, as he had seen Reno fight – and win. As Reno continued to talk, Andrew snapped to attention, "If the photo piece was not dropped by our men during the walk back, then it would be left at the crime scene. The police might link Biggs to me, as not that many people have scars such as mine. Before we begin to panic, go ask the men we were with. Maybe if we're lucky, the missing piece simply slipped into their pockets or got stuck on their shoes."

"Yes sir," Andrew answered as he turned away. He moved to the door and opened it, finding himself face to face with a mass of spiky blond hair.

"Cloud?" Reno's tone changed from cool to concern as he frowned at the newcomer, "What are you doing here? I told you to rest."

"I may not be in top fighting condition, but I can walk and run fine," Cloud answered from the doorway. Reno sighed as he placed his feet down on the floor and stood up. Andrew stepped aside, but Cloud didn't move as Reno walked in front of him.

"I know you well enough, Cloud, you're trying to act lone wolf and not depend on others again. Always so vigilant, but I won't let you or Aerith be harmed. So just settle on recovering for now, okay?"

"What were you talking about earlier?" Cloud asked, and Reno drew in a sharp breath. "I heard Biggs' name, what were you talking about?"

Reno stared at him, Cloud looked unflinchingly back. Andrew didn't know whether Cloud was unafraid because he was confident Reno wouldn't hurt him, or because Cloud knew he could fight back should something start. As it was, Reno settled on giving the blond a chilling smile before reaching forward. Andrew almost flinched again just by looking at Reno's expression, but Cloud didn't, and the former Turk only gently touched Cloud's face with the back of his hand.

"We were simply discussing what he has done to you," Reno answered. "It is nothing for you to be concerned about. Go back to Aerith, she will tell you everything you need to know. Anything else is unimportant."

"Reno, I just want to know…"

"All in due time," Reno smiled as his hand closed over Cloud's mouth. "If I tell you anything now, you will be moving about and ignoring your wounds. Once you've recovered, I will tell you everything. Allow us some time, please?" At those words, Cloud closed his eyes in silence, and Reno's smile grew. The redhead lightly pushed Cloud towards the door, and the smaller man left the room accordingly. Reno watched until he disappeared down the corridors, smile gone, "Andrew."

"Sir?"

"It would be preferable if Cloud does not know anything, understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Go find the men now."

Andrew nodded and hurried off as Reno returned to his chair. He sat down and placed his feet back on the table, before noticing the photo he had left on the table earlier.

_Oh __damn…don't tell me Cloud saw that. _

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

The room was cold, as was necessary to keep the bodies the state they were in. Zack stood at a distance as the men stored Bigg's body into a bag, and then locked it in a metal drawer. With that done, the men left to do other duties, while Zack headed back down to the hospital. As he walked down the corridors, he thought he heard, at a close distance, wails; both of a newborn child and of mourning family members.

Yes, such was the hospital, a place of death, but also of birth.

It seems today he was lucky too, for his phone rang and when he picked up a professional voice told him, "The Turk has awaken and is available for questioning, you may do so now."

"Yes sir," Zack answered, and Rufus hung up. Zack considered himself lucky that he was already in the hospital, and made for the Turk's quarters. He arrived to see Tseng already there, while Rufus stood at another side. It briefly crossed Zack's mind that while Rufus often visited his Turks, he did so at his own time. For Rufus to be here as soon as Rude woke, either he was actually concerned or he was really interested in hearing the story of what happened first-hand. Zack would bet it was the latter.

"Now that all of us are here," Rufus turned to Rude, "Shall we begin?"

"Yea," In an attempt to relax the atmosphere Zack gave the Turk a casual grin, "Why don't you tell us what in the world happened to you?"

Rude sighed, "I was only trying to follow my orders, and the mission itself seemed relatively simple at first. I didn't think it would turn out this way, sir."

"_Go to hell, ShinRa dog!" The man yelled._

"_You may be released after ShinRa deems your information accurate and reliable," Rude continued, but as soon as the words left his lips, a new voice countered him._

"_No, I'm going to be the one who decides his fate."_

_Biggs froze, his eyes widened almost in horror. Confused at the reaction, Rude turned to look at the source of the voice. A scruffy-looking young man stood there, red hair framed a young face, while goggles hid his eyes. _

"_I don't know why you're here, Turk, but any chance of a peaceful surrender of the terrorist you currently hold in your custody?"_

_Rude looked at the newcomer in disbelief, "Either you are extremely stupid, or extremely confident. I do not plan to just hand this terrorist over, ShinRa will deal with him."_

"_I did not wish to engage in another fight so soon, especially not against you, but you stand in my way. Andrew, step back." The order was obeyed, and before Rude could blink the redhead suddenly lunged forward. A claw-like hand surged forward and grabbed Biggs' throat before pulling back. The stranger spun, pulling Biggs away from Rude, while one of his long legs rose up to meet Rude's face. Rude blocked it, but by doing so he let Biggs go. _

_The stranger twisted away, dragging Biggs with him. The man yelled, but choked midway at the redhead's harsh grip. The newcomer manoeuvred easily away from Rude and threw Biggs towards Andrew, who caught him easily. Before Biggs could try escaping, more men suddenly emerged – the newcomer had come with backup. They seized Biggs quickly, while the redhead turned back to Rude. Now with Biggs out of the way, Reno jumped into the air, hands held in a claw-like way, as he lunged back at Rude. _

_The darker man blocked both hands with his own, but he wasn't able to block the redhead's feet as they surged forward and kicked his chest. As he stumbled back, the newcomer flipped back and landed on all fours. He didn't allow Rude any chance to recover, for he lunged forward again. A swift punch sent Rude reeling back, but mostly unharmed. That was, until the redhead reached inside his jacket and pulled out something long and metallic. Rude thought he heard the sizzle of electricity, before the metal baton struck him. _

"So while that attacker was fast, he shouldn't be able to defeat you on his own unless he had that weapon?" Zack asked. Rude nodded tiredly, and Rufus frowned.

"Did you recognize the weapon?" He asked, and Rude shook his head.

"No, it looked like a metal baton, but it looked retraceable. Judging by the electricity, it was probably some sort of stun weapon."

"Sir, I advise that we check with the Weapons Department," Tseng looked at Rufus, who nodded.

"That will be done, now…" the Vice-President turned back to Rude, "What did your opponent look like?"

Rude looked increasingly tired, but he answered. "He has long red hair, tied in a ponytail. Rather pale skin, and a slender body built. Judging by that and the tone of his voice, he is quite young. I couldn't see much of his face, he wore dark goggles…wait," Rude frowned thoughtfully, "just trailing down his goggles was something red…scars. He had two crescent scars under his eyes."

Zack frowned, "Red crescent scars?"

_Reno's scars…those twin red marks under his eyes…the photo!_

"Yes…I remember now, they really stood out against his skin," Rude confirmed. Zack spoke up before anyone else could.

"Biggs' body has been found by the police and the evidence gathered accordingly. One of them was a piece of photo that seems to show a red scar on skin. I'll like to bring it to you later and have you confirm the shape, okay? I'll give you a bit of rest first, of course."

"Biggs is dead?" Rude repeated, he leaned back against his pillow and closed his eyes. "I see…so that terrorist really did decide his fate." He paused, then opened his eyes again, "Biggs is of AVALANCHE but the terrorists who tried to catch him, including the one that fought me, have already stated themselves as under Orion, which means they are Eridanus' men. The one who first commanded them was named Andrew, Biggs and the newcomer who fought me addressed him as such."

"Andrew of Eridanus, I shall see if ShinRa has any files on him," Tseng promised. "Were any other names brought up?"

"With the exception of Biggs, Andrew, and Orion no other names were mentioned," Rude recalled. "They did discuss a mercenary whom Andrew described as Orion's favourite, while Biggs called him _Orion's New Pet_. There was a mention of the mercenary's friend, who is under Orion's protection, but Biggs apparently took a shot at him when he trespassed. Strangely enough, Biggs called him _the sleeping friend you've all been protecting_." Another memory passed Rude's mind, and he spoke again, "Andrew mentioned Orion's favourite mercenary as the one turning the favour to the terrorists during the fight with the Turks."

Rufus stared, "No surprise that he is a favourite if the mercenary was that skilled…wait, the terrorist who fought in the gunfight and turned the favour against us was the redhead with Mako eyes so that means…"

"You were fighting against someone who might be our greatest threat!" Zack concluded.

"Which means that the terrorist was from Eridanus," Tseng concluded. Rufus' mind was working even quicker.

From the very beginning when Eridanus and AVALANCHE broke into the company and set off those explosions, Rufus had the memory of Mako eyes seared into his memory, but through the smoke he could not determine anything else. When he heard of the Turk-Terrorist gunfight, he had learned that the terrorist with Mako eyes had red hair. Now, thanks to Rude's trailing of that dead but unimportant AVALANCHE terrorist, he had confirmed that the one Rufus was looking for was of Eridanus.

"Soldier," he addressed Zack, who snapped to attention, "Bring a copy of that photo here, we will have it confirmed as the terrorist's before deciding further action."

"Yes sir," Zack saluted before leaving the room. Once out of the Vice-President's sight, he sprinted down the halls and jumped out the window, landing on one knee and hand several floors below. Yes, the advantages Mako gave the infused soldiers were worth everything. He located his motorcycle, hoped on, and roared off down the streets. It took only a few seconds for him to arrive to another building, and with a flash of his ID – along with the occupants' recognition of his face – he was inside the building. After some questioning, he was quickly given directions to his destination. Everything went smoothly and quickly.

Yet when he arrived to his designated floor, the hairs on the back of his head stood up as he realized something was wrong.

He first realized this when he saw the floor was empty. There were no men or women walking around like they should be. Zack quickly lowered himself slightly, minimizing the risk of making himself a target, and quietly moved forward. He grasped his sword firmly, making sure it did not crash against anything and give out his movements. As the Soldier passed by a desk, he saw a pair of feet prodding out from under. Glancing around for confirmation of the empty hall, he moved forward.

The uniformed man was alive; he was just knocked unconscious and stuffed under the desk. No serious injury, he will wake up sooner or later. His attacker had no doubt sneaked in here trying to raise as little awareness as possible. Still moving on the low level, Zack continued quietly to his destination, and when he found more and more unconscious bodies hidden crudely around, it didn't take long for him to realize that whoever knocked these people out were headed to the same direction he was.

Sure enough, he soon saw the adjured door of the room he had been told to check. The guard was dumped unceremoniously by the door, as if the culprit had tired of even bothering to hide the body. Zack moved forward and pressed his ear lightly on the opened door, where he heard quiet shuffling. Someone was in there, conscious and moving. Zack took a deep breath, and then he kicked the door open.

Everything that happened next was faster then Zack's mind could register. A hooded figure whirled around at the loud bang the door made as it bounced against the wall. Zack saw a gloved hand snatch a small plastic bag from the Evidence Room, before the figure jumped back up against the wall. The figure's blue-black cloak spread around his body like wings, and Zack glimpsed a slender but definitely male built, before the figure threw himself forward to the door – where Zack was standing.

The Buster sword swung forward, and the figure jumped back out of the way. Although the figure was hooded and the high collar covered the intruder's lower face, Zack caught a glimpse of glowing blue eyes. Glowing…Mako!

"Reno!" Zack shouted at the figure, "There's no need for that disguise, I know you are involved in Bigg's death!"

The hood cast a shadow over the figure's face again, before 'Reno' lunged forward once more. This time he pulled out something from under his cloak, a small sword with a hole at its center **(1)**, which he swung expertly. Zack blocked it, but the other figure used that as leverage as he somersaulted over Zack's head and out the door. The figure was sprinting down the hall before Zack realized it.

"Reno!" The Soldier turned and dashed after the figure, who looked over his shoulder in annoyance. The figure reached the end of the hall, and instead of running down the stairs, he gathered himself into a ball and threw himself out the window. The glass shattered and tried to cut the figure, but the blue-black cloak protected him.

Zack ran to the broken window and looked down. The figure was falling on his back to the streets below, cloak fluttering around him like dark wings. The face turned upwards to Zack, and in one split second, as if done on instinct, a gloved hand rouse and pulled down the collar. Zack then saw a face that was most definitely not Reno's, but still set with Mako eyes. Eyes that were bluer in comparison to Reno's.

The stranger's hand then released his collar, allowing it to quickly cover his face again. Then he stretched both hands above his head and cart wheeled onto the rooftop of a nearby, low-level building, disappearing from sight. Zack thought about following the stranger, but decided against it. Instead he raised the alarm by alerting the staff members on the lower and upper floor, before rushing back to the Evidence Room.

His guess was correct; the photo piece that they had gathered from Bigg's crime scene was gone. All other evidence was untouched, but that photo piece of what may have been Reno's scar was gone.

Zack stayed out of the way as staff members poured onto the floor, gathering their unconscious colleagues and cleaning the broken glass. When he was questioned, Zack refrained from telling them that he had seen the culprit's face or that the culprit had Mako eyes. He didn't know whether he did it to protect association with Reno, or because he didn't think it will be a good idea for the public to know. He did know that he will have to tell Rufus that there was more then one person with Mako eyes running amuck among the terrorists.

Zack also knew that the stance of the investigation will not change because of this little intrusion, if anything it provided the perfect excuse for investigators to claim inability to solve the case because important evidence had gone missing. After all, who cared for the death of a terrorist? There were other cases they could be following up, such as who the mysterious and deadly Somnus was.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

It honestly did not take that long for the terrorists' information network to report to them. After all, anything remotely connected to the death of a fellow comrade tend to be reported quickly. Any clues or reaction from ShinRa were also paid attention to, so it wasn't long before Eridanus received the news.

"...Zack Fair, First Class Soldier, was left unharmed. He reported that he saw only the suspect's blue-black cloak and the sword, nothing else. Evidence from the room has been confirmed to be missing."

"Evidence on that AVALANCHE member's death so soon after his death, ShinRa will know something's wrong, the only thing to our advantage is that they won't care. For them, terrorists killing terrorists will help them instead." Reno flicked his lighter on again, before snapping it shut. "What was the missing evidence?"

"The photo piece," Andrew answered, and Reno stopped toying with the lighter. Andrew continued, "The other evidence seems to be mostly untouched. It appears as if the Soldier was seeking for the photo so he realized right away it was missing."

"So Zack was looking for that piece? ShinRa might be interested after all," Reno frowned. "A blue-black cloak and a sword…we can only guess the culprit is a swordsman then. That's not enough for us to guess who took the photo, Andrew, aside from the men who were with us did you tell anyone about Biggs' last moments?"

"No," Andrew answered honestly. "As you ordered, none of us spoke about the incident."

"Then, who can be the person who took the photo?" Reno tapped his lips with a finger, and another thought occurred to him, "Unless…"

A knock came from the door, drawing the attention of the two men. The redhead called out, "Come in."

The door opened, and Cloud stepped in, "Reno."

This time upon seeing the blond, Andrew lowered his head in a slight bow, "Cloud." The blond glanced at him in slight confusion, but Andrew didn't explain. It was an unofficial rule that seem to have come into being when Eridanus saw how important Cloud seemed to be to Reno, their trump card and deadliest weapon. Although Reno seemed persistent in keeping Cloud out of Eridanus' affairs, Reno had told them to keep an eye out and make sure Cloud was never harmed. The protectiveness the redhead had been exhibiting when it came to his now awaken friend warned Eridanus not to do anything against the blond. After all, by now they knew too well Biggs' fate for shooting the blond.

"Cloud, what brings you here?" Reno smiled, almost kindly, but Cloud saw right through it. Andrew glanced between them, and Reno dismissed him with a wave of his hand. Obeying the order, Andrew left, leaving the two Mako fused humans alone.

"Reno, I want to know what you have been doing with Eridanus."

"If I recall correctly, from where we came from Eridanus did not become as infamous as it is now," Reno pointed out. "Don't tell me you were aware of the organization."

"I only heard the name in a passing," Cloud answered, "And don't ignore the question, why are you with them?"

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"Why are you here and not with the Turks?" When Reno said nothing, Cloud continued, "Aerith told me from the very beginning when we first arrived, rather then apply directly to ShinRa you called yourself a mercenary and allied yourself with Eridanus. You've been rising in the ranks rapidly, as expected from one with your training, but why are you still here?"

"You don't need to know my reasons," Reno said softly. Cloud frowned as he pulled out something from his pocket and placed it on the table between them.

"I just want to know what you've been making of yourself here," Cloud stared at Reno as the redhead looked at what Cloud had placed on the desk. It was the triangular photo piece, Reno knew right then who had been the thief who broke into the evidence room and nearly engaged in battle with Zack.

"Why are you with us now, Reno?" Cloud asked. "Why are you here with the terrorists, yet killing off our comrades?"

"Our comrades?" Reno repeated. "Never my comrade, AVALANCHE and Eridanus does not get along, Cloud. That's one of the reasons I won't tell you anything, I know you consider AVALANCHE as your friends, especially since that Ancient and Childhood friend of yours is here. If this world is anything like ours, they will eventually join AVALANCHE. You will eventually too, they hold too much sway over you, and try as I might I know I can't keep you here."

"There was still no need for this," Cloud hissed. "Reno, answer me now, were you involved in Biggs' death?"

"Yes," Reno admitted, cold and blunt, Cloud's expression didn't betray anything he was feeling.

"You killed him?"

"No," Reno answered, and a flicker of confusion passed over Cloud's eyes. Reno allowed him to stew in it for a while before explaining, "I never did have the intention of killing him, at least not so soon.

"_Sit down!" The men shoved Biggs down onto a chair, ignoring his hiss of pain. __His hands had been bound behind his back, while a blindfold covered his eyes. Now that he was seated, a man removed the blindfold. Biggs blinked at the light, seeing that he was now in an old building with several men surrounding him, watching him for any signs of hostility or resistance. Only one of them did not face him, Reno was staring out the window instead. It was dusty and cracked, another sign of old age, but some light managed to filter in. Biggs growled, and Reno looked back at him. _

"_Yo, sorry for the inhospitality, but I don't think you would have come had I just invited you," Reno smirked. Biggs let out another snarl. _

"_You! What the hell do you want?" _

"_What do I want? Shouldn't I be the one asking that question?" Reno turned himself fully to face Biggs, the redhead's Mako eyes were flashing dangerously. "However ignorant you may be, I'm sure that a top of member of AVALANCHE such as yourself would have heard of the one I was protecting, a person I had the whole of Eridanus know about however much I tried to keep him out. Taking a shot at him so soon after our last attempt at ShinRa infiltration and assassination, are you trying to start a war?" _

_Biggs sneered, "Why the hell would I try that? Even I know that for terrorists to fight amongst themselves would only benefit ShinRa." _

"_Then why did you shoot him?" _

"_My reasons are my own!" _

"_Do you have some grudge against Eridanus? Or is it me?" Reno asked. "I highly doubt you're this trigger happy unless it was a ShinRa-related person." _

"_Ha, there is your answer!" Before any of them could blink, Biggs' feet shot forward and kicked his closest guard down. It seemed as if while they had been talking Biggs had managed to untie himself. The man suddenly sprung out of the guard circle, landing a good few feet away. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out several photos, which he then held in front of them. The photos were of Reno and his Eridanus comrades. Reno's eyes narrowed angrily. _

"_What is the meaning of this, Biggs?" _

"_What will the world say when they see these photos?" Biggs sneered. "A person with Mako eyes, the result of associating too closely with the military and force of ShinRa. Eridanus may be fooled but I never thought one should not allow a former ShinRa employee into the very heart of the liberators of ShinRa's oppressed people." _

"_Liberators?" Reno sneered, "You tell yourself that, Biggs. You and I both know that the label of terrorist isn't unjustified, we kill almost as much as the so-called employees of ShinRa have done." A few of Andrew's men flinched at that, but otherwise did not seem to be shaken at the truth flung into their faces. "What do you intend to do with those photos?" _

"_The world will never be allowed to be born renewed if we have remnants of ShinRa around," Biggs answered "I plan to do away with all reminders. Mako should never have been used, let alone fused into a person's body! I intend to use ShinRa's forces against their own: people who have allowed Mako-infused beings to live among us still!" _

_Reno's eyes narrowed, so did his men, "You plan to destroy Eridanus then?" _

"_For the sake of the new world, we can't let anyone know of Mako's advantages, they will be too tempted to take in their own; and history will repeat itself." The photos were shaken, and Reno knew that those photos were going to ShinRa if things went Biggs' way. _

"_Give it to me!" He shouted at Biggs, who tried to take the photographs back. A pair of hands seized the photo by both hands and pulled, while Biggs yanked from the other direction. The photo ripped, with a middle piece in Biggs' hand and the rest in his opponent's. Biggs nearly tripped, and as he did so the piece of photo slipped out of his grasp and into the cracks of the wall. He lunged forward at Reno, who quickly moved out of the way. Because of this, the man flew forward and smashed through the window, falling to the ground below._

"His desire for my death was his own downfall," Reno finished. "I never laid a finger on him."

"Needless to say it is going to be interpreted as murder by AVALANCE," Cloud pointed out. "When Barret and the others find out…"

"As of now, AVALANCHE is almost at the same level of Eridanus, in other words, though it is infamous itself it is nothing compared to the level back home," Reno countered. "If a battle starts between us, bring it on, but I think like Biggs they will know that a war between terrorists will only benefit ShinRa. By now they're already sticking their noses in deeper then they should, I had to fight with Rude earlier and it wasn't a happy thing."

"What about Zack?" Cloud asked, "When I went to retrieve this photo piece and he saw me, he kept calling out your name!"

"I admit, I got friendly with him, but I never used him," Reno snapped, "I never fought him or set him up. If possible I will spare his life in a fight, but don't take my word for it. Why are you so protective of him anyways? Were you formerly in a relationship with him?"

"Reno, you know as well as I do that I care for him only as a friend! Besides, my memory of him is still as vague as ever."

"And you will do well to remember that," Reno stated. "I don't want a dead man to be the one ruining our relationship, Cloud. I know well enough that those terrorists could already, and Sephiroth when you two meet."

**(1) This is just one of the smaller swords Cloud uses in Advent Children, the ones where he can combine with larger swords **

**You're done the reading part, now do the review! **


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